The Battle of Benfleet took place between the Vikings
and Saxons in 894. This was towards the end of the Saxon period,
and the Thames and other waterways made the area vulnerable to
Viking attacks. Benfleet was used as a Viking base. However the
Vikings were defeated in the battle by the army of King Alfred under the command of his son
Edward the Elder and his son-in-law Earl Aethelred of
Mercia. Subsequently a church was built by the Saxons in
thanksgiving for the victory over the Vikings. St Mary's church is
the most recent church building occupying this site.
This cache is a bonus for doing 2 other caches,
GC1P6E9 (Church Micro #533 South Benfleet) and
GC1P6E6 (Sidetracked South Benfleet). The
co-ordinates shown are for the car park which is free at weekends
and after 17:00 but expensive on weekdays so best avoided. The
actual co-ordinates for the cache will be found in the 2
micros.
You are looking for a screw top container in a camo bag with
plenty of room for the usual rubbish.
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