There was an important event at Dore (on the outskirts of Sheffield) in AD 829. Most of England was in the possession of Ecgbert, originally an under king of Kent, who had routed the Mercians and had been accepted as king by the East Saxons, the Anglians and all the kingdoms south of the Humber. This left only Northumbria outside his rule, so Ecgbert marched to Dore. The Mercian kingdom was one of the major forces in early Saxon England, between Wessex to the south and Northumbria to the north. The borders of Mercia and Northumbria were the River Sheaf, the name of which means a boundary river, the Meers Brook, which means brook of the boundary, and the Limb Brook. Ecgbert and his army faced the Northumbrians in Dore, but they submitted to him without a fight and admitted his claim to be 'King of all the English'. The probable reason for the Northumbrians' peaceful submission was the fact that the early ninth century saw an increase in raids of Vikings or Danes on their territory and, being in no position for a war on two fronts, they were glad to come under Ecgbert's protection.

The village of Dore again comes into our history when in AD 942, Edmund, the grandson of Alfred the Great, conquered the Danes of Mercia 'as far as where Dore divides the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria'. From that time onwards the Danes and the English began to live peaceably together, so that in the next century we find them fighting side by side against their own kinsmen under King Canute.

King Ecgbert III King of Wessex

• BIRTH: ABT 775
• REIGNED: 802-839
• DEATH: 4 FEB 839
• BURIAL: Winchester Cathedral, England

In 800 at the decease of King Brithric, Ecgbert was called by the voice of his countrymen to assume the Government of Wessex, and he subsequently succeeded in reducing all the Kingdoms of the Heptarchy under his sway. Offa, king of Mercia forced Ecgbert into exile at the court of Charlemagne. However, Ecgbert returned to England in 802 and was recognized as king of Wessex. He defeated the Mercians at the battle of Ellendun in 825, and in 829 the Northumbrians accepted his overlordship, as he was proclaimed "Bretwalda" or sole ruler of Britain.
His reign, a long and glorious one, is memorable for the great victories he achieved over the Danes.

His Family

• Father: Ealhmund Under King of Kent
• Mother : Daughter of Kent
• Married: Redburga
  Redburga is said to have been sister of King of Franks, who would have been Charlemagne,but there is little information about her.

Children

• AEthelwulf King of England
• Editha
• Athelstan (Arthulf) Sub King of Kent

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