ARMIES of Vikings and Anglo Saxons fought it out in a Wiltshire village over the weekend to commemorate 1,000 years since the Battle of Sherston.

Actors from Britain’s oldest and largest Dark Age re-enactment group The Vikings plunged Sherston back into the two-day battle that saw John Rattlebone rally local militia to repel the Danish Army in 1016.

Roger Barry, the Konungr (king) of The Vikings, said: “This was a wonderful event where The Vikings were given the warmest of welcomes and thoroughly enjoyed re-enacting such an interesting and unusual battle. We hope we can return to help the village celebrate future anniversaries though we hope it is much sooner than the next 1,000-year one.”

The planning for the landmark anniversary celebrations began in October and a small committee raised £2,000 to pay for it, which was later matched by an area board grant.

Richard Langely, one of the organisers, said: “We hired about 80 specialist actors to do the battle and they were really good and really scary. Some of them played the Saxons and King Edmund Ironside and the others played as King Cnut’s army.

“The Vikings camped out in modern tents away from the battleground but there were living history tents that would have been used in 1016 on the rec. They all had open fires and it gave an extra dimension as the smell of wood smoke wafted through the village like it would have been back then.”

Pupils from Sherston School learned about the battle and were given a £2 coin the organising committee had minted especially for the occasion.

“Thank you to everyone that has helped organise the event,” Mr Langely added. “We had an army of helpers serving refreshments during the day, putting out straw bales for people to sit on and generally helping with the day. It is typical of this village as everyone pulls together and makes things work.”