After the origin of the name, the next thing to consider is the first foundation of Bridgnorth. There is no doubt that this is very ancient, probably as ancient as the age of Alfred the Great. The Saxon chroniclers inform us that Ethelfleda, the daughter of Alfred, who inherited the magnanimity which has made her father’s name so illustrious in the page of history, aided her brother Edward in resisting the incursions of the Danes; and for this purpose erected several forts and castles in different parts of the country, and among these one at Bridgnorth. It appears that the Danes, in A.D. 896, having been driven from their settlements on the banks of the Thames, and their fleet having been destroyed, retreated northward, and at last made their way to the Forest of Morfe, adjacent to Quatford, where, as some writers record, they entrenched themselves in a strong fortification.[2] We have proof of their having been in this neighbourhood, from the fact that a place between Bridgnorth and Quatford still bears the name of _Danesford_, marking the spot, where no doubt these wild marauders found a passage across the Severn, which passage they no doubt used in carrying on their depredations on the east side of the stream. There is supposed to be other local evidence of the Danes having settled for a time in this neighbourhood, which is not without its interest. I refer to the discovery, made by Mr. Stackhouse, formerly Incumbent of St. Mary’s, of an ancient burial ground upon Morfe, which from its character he supposed to be Danish.[3] The following account of it, together with the subjoined sketch, is given in the 460th Number of the Philosophical Transactions. [2] “Aliâ excursione celeriter factâ in occiduas Angliæ partes in oppido ad Sabrinam, nomine Quatbrigia (forte Quatfordia prope Bridgnortham) quantâ poterant celeritate maximâ vallum sibi conficiunt.”—_Spelman’s Life of Alfred the Great, B._ 1, 94. “In great haste they departed their fortress, leaving their wives and children to the mercy of the English, neither stayed they till they came into the borders of Wales, where at Quatbridge upon Severn, they built another castle.”—_Speed, B. VII., c._ 34. [3] Mr. Hartshorne, in his _Salopia Antiqua_, (_pp. 91 and 101_) expresses the opinion, that these tumuli were the work of the ancient Britons, and not of the Danes. However, the same writer considers Burf Castle, an earthwork situated on the summit of a hill, about a mile and half east of Quatford, to be certainly Danish. (_pp. 210-12._) [Illustration]