In early 878, from his hideout in the marshes of Athelney, Somerset, Alfred the Great began to carry out guerrilla warfare against the Danish commander Guthrum, who had declared himself king of Wessex in Alfred's place.
At the beginning of May, Alfred sent out a call to his fyrd, or army, to assemble at Egbert's Stone (see King Alfred's Tower) and was joined by volunteers from Somerset, west Hampshire and Wiltshire. From there they marched in force to Ethandun (now Edington), south-east of modern-day Trowbridge in Wiltshire, where they challenged Guthrum and his forces.
In a fierce battle that lasted all day, Alfred's men wore down the Danes. They then chased them back to Chippenham (where the previous winter the Vikings had surprised and almost captured Alfred and his court), and trapped them within the Anglo-Saxon king's own fortress. After a siege of two weeks with no food, the Danes sued for peace.
Alfred realised that the best he could hope for was to consolidate his current possessions. By the terms of the treaty of Wedmore, Guthrum agreed to withdraw to territory already under Danish control – that is, to the north of the Roman Watling Street.
Alfred followed up the victory with measures to strengthen the area under his control by building burhs, or fortified towns. This system did much to stabilise the political situation and bring a measure of peace to the ravaged island.
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 The Vikings: Part III
www.battle1066.com/vikings3.shtml
Enthusiast's site (marred by a dark background on which the text is almost obscured). This part has lots of information on the battles of Ashdown and Edington fought by Alfred.
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Fortifications in Wessex c. 800-1016: The defences of Alfred the Great against the Vikings by Ryan Lavelle (Osprey, 2003)
Work tracing the development, construction and impact of defensive fortifications used in Wessex from the 9th to 11th century.
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 King Alfred's Tower
The tower is located on the Stourhead estate in Wiltshire, signposted from the B3092 about 2.5 miles north of Mere.
A brick folly, this was built in 1769-72 by the banker Henry Hoare II, owner of the Stourhead estate in Wiltshire (now part of the National Trust). It was intended to commemorate the end of the Seven Years War against France and the accession of George III, and supposedly stands near the location of 'Egbert's Stone' where, it is believed, Alfred the Great rallied the Saxons in May 878 before the battle of Edington, where the Danish army was defeated.
In the summer of 1764, Hoare wrote to his daughter: '... Out of gratitude to him [Alfred] I propose ... to erect a Tower on Kingsettle Hill where he set up his standard after he came out of concealment in the Isle of Athelney near Taunton ... I intend to build it on the plan of Sn Mark's Tower at Venice, 100 foot to the room which the staircase will lead to and 4 arches to look out in the 4 sides to the prospect all round.'
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