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"In the year of the Lord's Incarnation 849 Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, was born at the royal estate called Wantage, in the district known as Berkshire (which is so called from Berroc Wood, where the box-tree grows very abundantly)." (from The Life of King Alfred trans. Lapidge and Keynes)---------------------------------------------------
Wantage is 15 miles from Oxford via the X30 or 31, hemmed in by farmland and stone brick buildings. In the marketplace stands an enormous 19th c. tribute to the famous Anglo-Saxon king, axe and scroll-bearing, the vision and toil of H. S. H. Count Gleichen, whose work was unveiled 14 July 1878 by the Prince and Princess of Wales.
The poem on the plaque below the statue reads:"Alfred the Great
The West Saxon King.
Born at Wantage A.D 849.
Alfred found learning dead,
and he restored it.
Education neglected
and he revived it.
The laws powerless
and he gave them force.
The church debased
and he raised it.
The land ravaged by a fearful enemy
from which he delivered it.
Alfred's name will live as long
as mankind shall respect the past."
It is a sentimental tribute, set among the the humming of buses and the leering of shoppers. The last two lines must be, I feel, a dig at critics of Alfred's biographer, Asser, who has since the mid 19th century been frequently accused of being a forger, an embellisher, and a scoundrel.
I look about the town for things to do. There isn't much in Wantage. It's a small town with small ambitions and whose only claim to fame was that one of the most famous West Saxon kings just happened to be born there. They still cling to this. Almost every building or business carries his namesake. The King Alfred Head. King Alfred's Sandwich Shop. (Oh, did he really eat here? Oh, yes, the king was fanciful of sandwiches, everyone knows that!)Other than this modern attraction, Wantage is rather dull. I fiddle browse the books of a vendor, spot a book on the "Real King Arthur" sitting next to a book about "Channeling your Psychic Energy." As soon as you leave the market place it feels that you're immediately out of town, down the carriageway to somewhere else. Where did Wantage go? Oh, it's behind me. Once outside the city, farmland dominates my purview, large threshing tractors kick up chaff and dust. It seems in Oxfordshire that every street is named "Oxford Street."
I find a nifty church, the parish of Wantage, also called the Church of St Peter and Paul, and go inside.
Just up the street is the Vale and Downland Museum, which contains artifacts from the 7th, 8th, and 9th centuries. It also has a bunch of other, modern stuff, but I could care less about that. Here are some of the cool items that have been excavated or just found in and around Oxfordshire.
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| Alfred may have worn a shoe like this? Hmm. Selling it a bit hard, aren't they? |
After browsing through the museum and taking pictures of every nook and cranny, I head outside of town, looking for the fabled box-tree.
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| King Alfred's School. |
(Oxford, UK)
I return to Oxford to meet Ramona after her language class, at about 3:30pm. Our plan is to check out a few more of the smaller and cheaper colleges today, so that this weekend, when all the Oxford colleges are open to the public, we can focus on seeing the nicer, bigger ones.Our goal today is Balliol College, on St. Giles street, across from that famous Tolkien pub I mentioned a few posts ago.
Balliol College:
Here's the coup de grace: Balliol's dining hall.
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| In Balliol's Chapel |
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| That's all folks! |
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