Horrible Histories!

There is a barrow or tumulus in Gillingham known as Langbury Hill. The barrow in question is a long low mound of earth measuring about one hundred feet from its eastern to its western extremity, by about thirty feet wide, while the highest part is some six feet above the level of the surrounding field. Tradition states that it was the burial place of those who were slain in a battle between the Saxons and Danes, referring to the battle of Penn, fought in 1016 between Edmund Ironside and Canute. This village of Penn, now known as Penselwood, is only a few miles North of Gillingham. Tradition says that the blood shed in this battle flowed as far as a place still called Slaughtergate about a quarter of a mile from the barrow.