Wessex and Wilton

The woods above Wilton have many stories attached to them, and part of the reason that I have walked and cycled so much around these hills and tracks, is to gain a sense of this historic landscape, and my paintings and drawings, are part of this exploration 
 Without Wessex there would have been no England, and without Wilton there would have been no Wessex.
 In 871 the Vikings were hammering at the gateways of Wessex, the last Kingdom to succumb to the assault of the Northmen. There was an intense amount of activity in this year with battles named in Basing , Meretun, and Wilton. According to Cassells Battlefields of Britain and Ireland; Asser recorded that Wilton was on a hill south of the River Guilou ( or Wylye) and speculates that this might mean "The high ground between the Nadder and Wylye, along the continuation of the Roman road westwards from Old Sarum through Grovely Wood." all of this area is five minutes from where I live,and as I explore the paths and ancient earthworks, i think "A nation was lost and then forged here ", and I am thinking of the sacking of Wilton and the bargain which Alfred made , paying off the Vikings for long enough to repair his fortifications and eventually resist their advance. So though I am trying to record what I see before me , perhaps I am also hoping some sense of this significance is captured.