XIX. An Inquiry respecting the Site of Kenwith or Kenwic Castle, in Devonshire. By Robert Studley Vidal, Esq. In a Letter to Henry Wansey, Esq. F.A.S.

Extract

I am induced by the suggestion contained in your very obliging letter to send you what particulars I have been able to collect respecting the site of Kenwith or Kenwic Castle; a fortress, the history of which I should suppose can never prove uninteresting to Englishmen, since it is intimately connected with one of the most brilliant exploits that adorn the pages of our annals. To establish its claim to the particular attention of every lover of antiquity, I need only mention that by the fortunate sally of an intrepid band of Anglo-Saxons from Kenwith Castle, to which the Danes had lain siege towards the close of the ninth century, the main western army of these ferocious invaders was routed, 1200 of them, including their principal leader, killed, their consecrated standard taken, and the gloomy aspect of affairs so entirely changed, that our immortal Alfred was enabled to leave his hiding place, and again to assume the command of his armies and the government of his people.