From the time of Anna till the reign of Alfred the Great there are few events on record except the frequent incursions of the piratical Danes, who at last over-ran East Anglia, and had their head quarters at Thetford in 870. But the reign of the Great Alfred was distinguished by his decisive victories over those Northern marauders. One of his chief objects was to fortify the principal parts of his kingdom against hostile attacks. Finding the walls or ramparts of Norwich Castle too weak for repelling the attacks of the Danes, he caused others to be erected with the most durable materials. That it was a noted military station, and a royal castle in his time, is evident from a coin struck here in the year 872, having round the head _AElfred Rex_, and on the reverse _Northwic_. After making peace with the Danes in 878, he assigned to them, for their residence, the whole of East Anglia, and their leader Guthrum fixed his seat at Norwich; but, breaking his faith, the city and county were wrested from him, and reverted again to the Angles under six successive sovereigns. Edward the Elder succeeded his father, the illustrious Alfred, in the year 901, and kept the Danes at bay. Ericke, one of their chiefs, held East Anglia under the king, till he rebelled in 913, when he was overthrown and slain. Athelstan, who succeeded Edward, totally expelled the Danes, and reduced the whole kingdom under his government. In his reign Norwich flourished, and it is probable that he was here in 925, for a coin still extant has on the obverse _Ethalstan_, and on the reverse “_Barbe Mon Northwic_,” that is “Barbe, mint master of Norwich.” Among the other East Anglian coins struck here, the following may be mentioned; one of Edmund, the successor of Athelstan, inscribed round the head _Edmund Rex_, and on the reverse _Edgar Mon Northwic_; several of Edred, coined about 946, and inscribed round the head _Eadred Rex_, and on the reverse _Hanne Mo Northwic_; two of Edward the Martyr, having on the obverse _Edward Rex. Angl._ and on the reverse _Leofwine Mon Nor._; and three of Ethelred the Unready, having on the obverse _Edelred Rex_. There is no account of the castle after the time of Anna till the Danish wars; and then it was often won and lost by the contending powers. Blomefield, in his History of Norfolk, vol. II. p. 4, notices the coins of several Anglo-Saxon princes, Alfred, Athelstan, Edmund I., Edred, Edward the Martyr, and Ethelred II. The circumstance of Alfred coining money here is remarkable, as at the date of this coinage, (872) the government of East Anglia could only have just come into his hands, upon the extinction of the East Anglian dynasty in the person of St. Edmund, and the country either was or had just been in the military possession of the Danes.