Battle of Tettenhall

On this day back in 910, the Viking raiders who had been terrorizing England suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Tettenhall. It was, in fact, the last major Viking army to mount a raid on English soil. A Viking force commanded by King Olaf the White arrived in early August AD910 aboard a sizable flotilla of ships, striking Nottinghamshire and plundering Northampton. However, on 5 August, a relatively small Anglo-Saxon army under Alfred the Great met and routed them at Tettenhall, situated west of Burton-on-Trent.

For roughly a decade, Viking forces had been making landfall across England. Along the east coast, they had already seized or laid waste to numerous settlements. At their helm was Olaf the White, whose father was none other than King Harald Hardrada of Norway — the same ruler who would fall in battle at Stamford Bridge in 1066. The following year, in 911, these Norse invaders navigated the Humber estuary all the way to York, where they set up naval bases at Riccall, Grimsby, and Kingston upon Hull.

Facts about the Battle of Tettenhall 910

• Tettenhall holds a special place in history as the first significant victory King Alfred achieved over the Vikings. More than just a military triumph, it was a battle that ultimately persuaded the Scandinavian settlers in England to recognize Alfred as their King.
• By 909 AD, Viking forces had already seized control of most of East Anglia, Mercia, and Northumbria. Come summer 910, they pushed further into Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and Staffordshire, ransacking towns including Derby, Nottingham, and Stamford along the way.
• In early August AD910, Alfred the Great marshaled his forces and marched to confront the Vikings at Tettenhall, west of Burton-on-Trent. Despite being outnumbered, Alfred's small Anglo-Saxon army overcame the formidable Viking force under King Olaf the White. The defeated invaders retreated to their fortified camp at Chester, only to have it stormed and burnt two days later.
• This English triumph at Tettenhall had profound political consequences — it convinced many Scandinavian settlers to pledge allegiance to Alfred as their King instead of Olaf II.
• In the aftermath of the battle, only a small number of Vikings remained in England, having escaped the fighting. These remnants were led by several former military commanders.
• Upon Alfred's return to London, he encountered a large procession of Norsemen who had survived the bloodshed at Tettenhall. These refugees met him in London, where he granted them sanctuary. From that point forward, most of the Norse settlements along the upper Thames gradually grew into established towns, among them Kingston upon Hull and Grimsby.