Lets start by looking at the documentation available
Extract from the Anglo Saxon Chronicles 449AD
Original :- Her Mauricius ⁊ Ualentines onfengon rice ⁊ ricsodon .vii. winter. ⁊ On hiera dagum Hengest ⁊ Horsa from Wyrtgeorne
geleaþade Bretta kyninge gesohton Bretene on þam staþe þe is genemned Ypwinesfleot, ærest Brettum to fultume, ac hie eft on hie
fuhton. Se cing het hi feohtan agien Pihtas, ⁊ hi swa dydan ⁊ sige hæfdan swa hwar swa hi comon. Hi ða sende to Angle ⁊
heton heom sendan mare fultum ⁊ heom seggan Brytwalana nahtnesse ⁊ ðæs landes cysta. Hy ða sendan heom mare fultum. þa comon þa
menn of þrim mægþum Germanie, of Ealdseaxum, of Anglum, of Iotum. Of Iotum comon Cantware ⁊ Wihtware, þæt ys seo mæið ðe nu
eardað on Wiht, ⁊ ðæt cynn on Westsexum þe man gyt hæt Iutna cyn. Of Ealdseaxon comon Eastsexa ⁊ Suðsexa ⁊ WestSexan. Of Angle
comon, se a siððan stod westi betwyx Iutum ⁊ Seaxum, Eastengla, Midelangla, Mearca ⁊ ealle Norðhymbra..
A.D. 449. This year Marcian and Valentinian assumed the empire, and reigned seven winters. In their days Hengest
and Horsa, invited by Wurtgern, king of the Britons to his assistance, landed in Britain in a place that is called Ipwinesfleet;
first of all to support the Britons, but they afterwards fought against them. The king directed them to fight against the Picts;
and they did so; and obtained the victory wheresoever they came. They then sent to the Angles, and desired them to send more
assistance. They described the worthlessness of the Britons, and the richness of the land. They then sent them greater support.
Then came the men from three powers of Germany; the Old Saxons, the Angles, and the Jutes. From the Jutes are descended the men of
Kent, the Wightwarians (that is, the tribe that now dwelleth in the Isle of Wight), and that kindred in Wessex that men yet call
the kindred of the Jutes. From the Old Saxons came the people of Essex and Sussex and Wessex. From Anglia, which has ever since
remained waste between the Jutes and the Saxons, came the East Angles, the Middle Angles, the Mercians, and all of those north of
the Humber. Their leaders were two brothers, Hengest and Horsa; who were the sons of Wihtgils; Wihtgils was the son of Witta,
Witta of Wecta, Wecta of Woden. From this Woden arose all our royal kindred, and that of the Southumbrians also.
Hengest and Horsa landed on the Isle of Thanet which seems to translate correctly as Thanet is derived from þegn æg -
þegn - thane - a servant, one who does service for another (a mercenary)
æg - an island also eye, ye, sea
As Hengest and Horsa were invited to fight for Vortigern, this translation would seem logical for the island.
The question is now - why Thanet ? Could it be that Vortigern had been pushed back to Thanet from his original capital of
Canterbury, which is why they landed on Thanet. The most logical place to have landed if he was still on the mainland would
have been around the Richborough area, so we have to assume Vortigern had been pushed back onto the Isle of Thanet.
Green Line - Now we have a look at the places with an ing in their name(which to us means fortified) on the Isle of Thanet - please see the map.
So if we assume Vortigern was near Ipwinesfleet, that would have been defended by his people, and with the Saxons military logic
they built fortified places around the island to protect it from the sea at Birchington, Garlinge, Reading Street and Newington.
We need to make an assumption that the water between the isle and the mainland was controlled by the Saxon ships so less
defenses were required on the South West of Thanet.
The next thing that would have been required to restore Vertigern would have been to take the old Roman shore forts at Richborough
and Reculver as they would have been the next most serious threat.
Orange Line - Lets first visit Reculver, if you look to the west you will see three more ings Beltinge, Eddington and Shelvingford plus Hillborough
(an old Roman Fort), which appear to mark a protective boundary around Reculver to the landward side, again suggesting that the
sea was controlled by the Saxon ships.
Purple Line - Now to the area around Richborough, taking this fort will leave the way open to Canterbury on the Roman Road
the most likely initial defensive ring around Richborough is the purple line.
Brown Line - spreading out from Richborough, to protect the land behind we have a second line of ings, it would seem that
the fiercest fighting occurs around the cluster of ings near Bramling on the Canterbury road.
Yellow Line - Hengest has to take Canterbury to install Vortigern as king of Kent, but carries on up Watling Street and build
more protective ings. He also heads south west and south east from Canterbury to block and protect the other three Roman Roads. He
now controls the north east of Kent from Faversham to Walmer. He probably deposes Vertigern at this point.
Dark Blue Line -
Ok now down to Dover from Richborough and then head north west towards London, he wants Portus Lemanis as it controls access to the
sea from the major Iron working locations in the Weald.
Pale Green Line -
Expanded further North West and pushing towards Portus Lemanis.
Pale Blue Line -
Expanded further North West and now taking in Portus Lemanis.
Pink Line -
Expanded further North West now gives Hengest most of Kent.
Please NOTE: the details above are a possible logical interpretation of the village names in North East kent, and as there
are no other written records we will never be sure unless archaelogical evidence can be found.
There are three main assumptions to this interpretation, that you accept that villages containing the term ing in all its forms
means 'protected/protection', that the Saxons controlled the sea, and that conglomerations of ings shows points of the heaviest fighting.
Places mentioned in the text and translation details:-
Ypwinesfleot Yppe wines fleot(Ipwinesfleet) Ebbsfleet Thanet
yppe -a raised place, a lookout place
wines - wine (possibly where the romans grew wine)
fleot - a bay, estuary, river etc - a place where boats float
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