Map Position This map shows the position of locations of type 'Town, Village, Roman City, Roman Town, Roman Villa, Roman Major Fort, Roman Watch Tower, Roman Port, Saxon Landing' containing 'dubris, durobrivae, durovernum, portus lemanis, regulbium, rutupiae' centered on Rochester in Medway.
Map Logic Lost Saxon Towns - Agelesþrep - 455AD
The forest of Andredsweald is shown, which was impassable except where Roman Roads or rivers cut through it.
Roman roads are shown in black plotted from Ivan D Margary 'Roman Roads in Britain' published in 1955.
The red roads are taken from Ivan D Margary 'Roman ways in the Weald' published in 1948.
The Blue lines show the extent of the tidal rivers with the blue shaded areas showing tidal salt marshes as it would have been
in Saxon times.
Extract from the Anglo Saxon Chronicles 455AD
Original :- Her Hengest ⁊ Horsa fuhton wiþ Wyrtgeorne þam cyninge, in þære stowe þe is
gecueden Agelesþrep, ⁊ his broþur Horsan man ofslog; ⁊ æfter þam Hengest
feng to rice ⁊ æsc his sunu.
A.D. 455. This year Hengest and Horsa fought with Wurtgern the king at Agelesþrep.
His brother Horsa being there slain, Hengest afterwards took to the kingdom with his son Aesc.
Place name Translation:-
Agelesþrep Ageles(Ægles) - Eagles
þrep(þreap) - a crowd
(The place of the Eagle Troops - Rochester)
So we are looking for an old Roman Legionary Fort between Canterbury where Vortigern was re installed as the King in 449AD
and Crayford which is where the last battle for Kent is recorded in 457AD, there is only one and that is at
Rochester which is a strategic crossing point of the Medway, and one which Vortigern would have needed to hold.
Rochester was also at the time the second capital of Kent, so this seems the most likely location for Agelesþrep
