Following the Danish evacuation of Exeter in 877 when their relief fleet was wrecked in a storm, Alfred systematically refortified the old Roman walls and established a garrison burh. Exeter had twice been seized by Danish armies and its refortification was a strategic priority for controlling Devon and the south-west approaches. The Burghal Hidage assigned Exeter a large garrison reflecting its strategic importance.
West Saxon royal engineers and Devon fyrd
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in Britain — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
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