Battlefields›Battle of Sandwich (851)
Early Medieval

Battle of Sandwich (851)

851
England
Era
Early Medieval
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Danish Vikings
VS
Victor
Kentishmen
Forces involved

Danish Vikings: More than nine ships

Outcome
Kentish victory.
The Battle

History & Significance

The Battle of Sandwich in 851 was the first known naval battle in English history. It was a Kentish victory against a Danish Viking fleet.

In 851 King Æthelwulf of Wessex scored a major victory at the battle of Aclea over an army drawn from 350 Danish ships. He had appointed his eldest son Æthelstan under-king of Kent, and in the same year Æthelstan and his ealdorman Ealhhere defeated a Danish fleet off Sandwich in Kent.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded under 851 that: "King Æthelstan and Ealdorman Ealhhere fought in ships, and slew a great army at Sandwich in Kent, and captured nine ships, and put the others to flight.

The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of Sandwich (851) lies on Thanet Sand Formation, bedrock that formed in the Thanetian. The rock here is sand, silt and clay.

Casualties & Losses
  • Danish Vikings: Nine ships lost
Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

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Everything a full report reveals about Battle of Sandwich (851)

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Overview
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Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Battle of Sandwich (851)

The Fisher Gate
The Fisher Gate
Scheduled monument · ~0.2 mi

The Fisher Gate is a medieval gateway structure located in Kent, England. The monument represents an example of medieval fortification and urban defence infrastructure characteristic of Kent's medieval towns. As recorded in the National Heritage List for England, the structure dates from the medi…

Penny Mayes / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Sandown Castle
Sandown Castle
Scheduled monument · ~3.7 mi

Sandown Castle is a Tudor coastal artillery fort constructed under the direction of Henry VIII between 1539 and 1540 as part of a series of defensive works built along the Kent coast to counter the threat of invasion from France and Spain. The castle is situated at Sandown on the Isle of Sheppey…

Nick Smith / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Artillery castle at Deal
Artillery castle at Deal
Scheduled monument · ~4.7 mi

Deal Castle is a coastal artillery fortress built by Henry VIII between 1539 and 1540 as part of his defensive programme against foreign invasion following England's break with Rome. The castle comprises a distinctive multi-lobed plan with a central circular keep surrounded by concentric bastions…

Lieven Smits / CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Artillery castle at Walmer
Artillery castle at Walmer
Scheduled monument · ~5.8 mi

Artillery Castle at Walmer is a coastal fortification built by Henry VIII in the 1540s as part of his programme of defensive works against French invasion. The castle follows the distinctive Device Fort design, characterised by a central circular tower surrounded by lower bastioned defences, whic…

Lieven Smits / CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
St Nicholas' Church, Oxney
St Nicholas' Church, Oxney
Scheduled monument · ~7.1 mi

St Nicholas' Church, Oxney is a medieval parish church located in the Isle of Oxney in Kent, England. The building dates primarily from the 14th and 15th centuries, with the chancel and nave representing the principal phases of medieval construction. The church retains characteristic features of…

Salmestone Grange
Salmestone Grange
Scheduled monument · ~7.2 mi

Salmestone Grange is a medieval monastic grange located near Margate in Kent, established as an outlying farm belonging to the Benedictine monastery of St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury. The grange dates from the medieval period and represents the type of agricultural estate that supplied provis…

David Anstiss / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Sandwich town walls: section from New Gate to Woodnesborough Gate
Scheduled monument · ~0.2 miles
Sandwich town walls: site of the Round House
Scheduled monument · ~0.2 miles
More from this era

Other Early Medieval Battles

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Battle of Crayford (457)
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Battle of Aylesford
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Anglian Assault on Roman York (c.450-500 AD)
450
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In the same landscape

Battles near Battle of Sandwich (851)

Battle of Sandwich (1460)
1460
~0 miles away
Battle of Sandwich (1217)
1217
~0 miles away
French Raid on Sandwich 1457
1457
~0.1 miles away
Battle of Sandwich (1460) – Capture of the Royal Fleet
1460
~0.1 miles away
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Sources
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