Battle of Aylesford

Battle of Aylesford

The Battle of Aylesford or Epsford or Aegelesthrep was fought in 455 AD between Saxon invaders and the native Romano-Britons near Aylesford in the English county of Kent.

It is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as being a battle between the natives led by Vortigern and his sons and the Saxons led by Hengist and Horsa. Horsa and Vortigern's son Catigern were killed.

:"Her Hengest 7 Horsa fuhton wiþ Wyrtgeorne þam cyninge, in þære stowe þe is gecueden Agælesþrep, 7 his broþur Horsan man ofslog; 7 æfter þam Hengest feng to rice 7 Æsc his sunu ."

:"Hengist and Horsa fought with King Vortigern in this place which is called Agælesþrep, and his brother Horsa was killed, and after that Hengist became king with his son Æsc "

The chronicle does not specify who won, which might suggest the invaders were defeated. Nennius mentions a battle of Rithergabail or Episford where Horsa and an otherwise unknown son of Vortigern - Catigern - was killed. Nennius does not tell who won either but states that the campaign ended in victory for the Britons, which contradicts the testimony of the chronicle. According to it, two years later the Saxons defeated the Britons at a site further west in the Battle of Crayford.

Two Neolithic chamber tombs nearby, Kit's Coty House and White Horse Stone are attributed in local tradition as being the burial places of Catigern and Horsa respectively.


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