Aethelflaed book is talk of the town for Warwick

Dark Age Warwick & the Warrior Queen, written by Warwick District Council’s heritage and arts manager Jeff Watkin, explores the story behind the foundation in autumn AD 914 of a fortress which grew into the town of Warwick.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the main contemporary record, tells us that Warwick was one of several fortresses built by Aethelflaed, ruler of Anglo-Saxon Mercia, to secure her kingdom in the West Midlands..

The book also considers whether Aethelflaed’s fortress was truly the origins of Warwick.

Copies cost £5 at the Art Gallery and Museum and Waterstones in Leamington and St Mary’s church, the visitor information centre, Warwick Books and Market Place Museum in Warwick.