By the Rev. J. J. Reynolds. 



253 



several wells in the town which are said never to have failed. 

 That there was a good supply of water we may infer from the fact 

 that the Saxons, a prudent and warlike people, selected it for a 

 permanent fortified position, which they would not have done if 

 destitute of this necessary of life. 1 The real history of Shaftesbury 

 commences with its restoration, and the foundation of its Abbey 

 by Alfred the Great A.D. 880. During the Danish invasion it 

 had, probably in common with almost every other town of any 

 importance, been destroyed, 2 since it is clear that it had been a place 

 of note from a much earlier period. 



The spring of the year 879 found King Alfred a fugitive, con- 

 cealed from his enemies, with a few trusty followers in the Isle of 

 Athelney in Somersetshire. Encouraged 3 however by the defeat 

 and death of the Danish Chief Hubba, 4 who was at this time com- 

 pletely routed and slain with upwards of twelve hundred of his 

 followers, by the Earl of Devon, before the fortress of Kenwith, 

 near the mouth of the River Torridge in North Devon, 5 he resolved 

 to leave his retreat, and the E-oyal Standard was unfurled at 

 Egbertstone to the east of Selwood Forest. To trace the march of 

 Alfred from Athelney to the victory of Ethandun, which restored 

 him to his throne, is not an easy task. The late Sir Richard 

 C. Hoare, finding a place called " King's Settle " in the parish of 

 Stourton, Wilts, with a tradition that Alfred halted there on his 

 first day's march, built a tower to preserve the memory of that 

 event. As local names and traditions carry with them a pre- 

 sumption of truth, the surmise of Sir R. 0. Hoare, with respect to 

 the halts of Alfred at this spot, is highly probable. The chief 

 difficulties however remain. Asser says " Alfred encamped one night 

 at Egbertstone." Most writers have considered this to be Brixton 



1 The ancient wells are of very great depth, and it is of course very expensive 

 to sink them ; great thanks are therefore due to the Marquis of Westminster 

 for the abundant supply of water now afforded, by means of the water works 

 recently erected ; this supply however is not procured from a distance, but from 

 a well sunk on the spot and within the borough. 



2 Leland. 3 Henry of Huntingdon. 



4 Roger of TVendover. 6 Asser and others. 



