Leith Hill

Leith Hill is a wooded hill to the south west of Dorking, Surrey, England. It reaches 294m above sea level, the highest point on the Greensand Ridge, and is the second highest point in south-east England, after Walbury Hill near Hungerford, West Berkshire, 297m high. Leith Hill is the highest ground for 49 miles. It was possibly on the summit of Leith Hill in 851, that Æthelwulf of Wessex, father of Alfred the Great, defeated the Danes who were heading for Winchester, having sacked Canterbury and London.The nearest railway station is Holmwood Station, 2mi to the east. This station is served by Southern trains on the Sutton & Mole Valley Line route.Battle Of Leith HillThe hill's first notable role in history was as a battlefield in the ninth century struggle between Saxons and Danes. In 851AD the Danes planned a full scale invasion, after raiding the country regularly for many years. The Danes invaded up the Thames and burnt Canterbury and then London. The next target was Winchester, but on their march towards Winchester they met the army of Ethelwulf, father of Alfred the Great. Ethelwulf, it seems, took up a position on the slopes of Leith Hill - an ancient mass grave found in 1882 seems to point to this area as the site of battle (Stories of the Surrey Hills published by the Surrey Society). Ethelwulf was able to use position on high ground to win the huge battle that followed. This battle ended the Danes immediate prospects of conquering the whole of Britain.