HORDES of Vikings and Saxons will clash in the quiet market town of Wantage this weekend.
Living history group The Vikings will set up camp at Manor Road recreation ground for Wantage’s second annual Alfred’s Day.
Introduced by town mayor Fiona Roper last year, the festival celebrates the feast day of the Saxon king Alfred the Great, born in Wantage in 849AD.
With 80 tents exhibiting leatherwork and stonework, a Saxon battle re-enactment and even a sword shop, this year’s camp will be twice as big as last year.
Our top stories
Although Alfred’s Feast Day is traditionally celebrated on October 27, Mrs Roper said she hoped bringing it forward a month would make for more clement weather.
She said: “This year’s going to be much bigger and with 80 tents it should be a really fantastic two days.
“There will be people showing how to make Medieval medicines, leatherwork and all sorts of stuff going on.
“You can talk to the guys as well. They are really knowledgeable.”
The gates will open at 11am on both days, with a weapons display at 11.30am, a 12.30pm skirmish, and at 1.30pm a chance for under-11s to fight a viking.
At 2.30pm there will be a humorous retelling of Norse legend The Hrothgar Saga, and at 3.45pm on both days the grand finale – a re-enactment of the Battle of Ashdown where King Alfred defeated the Vikings in 871.
Mrs Roper added: “It is brilliant. There is a lot of chanting and some of The Vikings are stuntmen for films so it can get quite gory.”
Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here