The village that grew into a racing superpower

Alfred The Great, warrior king and Great British Bake Off flop, was born in Wantage but owned land in Lambourn which he left to his wife on his death aged 50 in 899.

So Alfred was on familiar ground when, on January 8, 871, he scored one of the rare English home wins over the Vikings at the battle of Ashdown, the exact location of which has been lost in the mists of the intervening 1,145 years but must have been hard by the village of Lambourn.

The Viking king Bagsecg (presumably easier to smell than spell) was killed in the battle and buried at the local neolithic landmark of Wayland’s Smithy, which dates from around 4000BC. Alfred’s earls who died at Ashdown were interred at Seven Barrows, now home to Hendo The Great.