Editing Kettering (section)

===Saxon===
[[Excavation (archaeology)|Excavations]] in the early 20th century either side of Stamford road ([[A43 road (England)|A43]]), near the site of the former Prime Cut factory (now the Warren public house), revealed an extensive early [[Saxon]] burial site, consisting of at least a hundred cremation urns dating to the 5th century AD. This suggests that it may have been among the earliest Anglo-Saxon penetrations into the interior of what later became England. The prefix ''Wic-'' of the nearby village of [[Weekley]] may also signify Anglo-Saxon activities in the area; Greenall reports that it could be "an indication of [[foederati]], Anglo-Saxon mercenaries brought in to boost the defences of the Empire."<ref name="Greenall9" /> This was established imperial policy, which the Romano-British continued after Rome withdrew from Britain around 410, with disastrous consequences for the Romano-Britons.

By the 7th century the lands that would eventually become Northamptonshire formed part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of [[Mercia]].<ref>R.L. Greenall: A History of Northamptonshire, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 1979, {{ISBN|1-86077-147-5}}. p.26.</ref> The Mercians converted to Christianity in 654 with the death of the pagan king [[Penda]].<ref>R.L. Greenall: A History of Northamptonshire, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 1979, {{ISBN|1-86077-147-5}}. p.29.</ref> From about 889 the Kettering area, along with much of Northamptonshire (and at one point almost all of England except for [[Athelney]] marsh in [[Somerset]]), was conquered by the Danes and became part of the [[Danelaw]], with the ancient trackway of [[Watling Street]] serving as the border, until being recaptured by the English under the [[Wessex]] king [[Edward the Elder]], son of [[Alfred the Great]], in 917. Northamptonshire was conquered again in 940, this time by the Vikings of York, who devastated the area, only for the county to be retaken by the English in 942.<ref>[[Michael Wood (historian)|Michael Wood]]: The Domesday Quest, BBC Books, 1986 {{ISBN|0-563-52274-7}}. p. 90.</ref>

It is unlikely, however, that Kettering itself existed as a village earlier than the 10th century (the county of Northampton itself is not referenced in documents before 1011).<ref>R.L. Greenall: A History of Northamptonshire, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 1979, {{ISBN|1-86077-147-5}}. p.34.</ref> Before this time the Kettering area was most likely populated by a thin scattering of family farmsteads.<ref name="Greenall9" /> The first historical reference of Kettering is in a charter of 956 in which [[Edwy of England|King Edwy]] granted ten "cassati" of land to Ælfsige the Goldsmith. The boundaries delineated in this charter would have been recognisable to most inhabitants for the last thousand years and can still be walked today. It is possible that Ælfsige gave Kettering to the [[monastery]] of [[Peterborough]], as [[Edgar the Peaceful|King Edgar]] in a charter dated 972 confirmed it to that monastery.