Mystery
The Vikings' Dock
Longships moored here, or so the name insists.
See it clearly
- What's there
- Moats and an old dock by the river
- Legend from
- 920 (legend)
- Tone
- Curious
Beside the river at Willington is the Danish Camp, a dock where Viking longships were said to moor, though the diggers found no Vikings.
Beside the Great Ouse at Willington lies a double-moated enclosure with a riverside dock, long known as the Danish Camp or Danish Dock. Tradition says Viking raiders hauled their longships into it while attacking Bedford; the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle does record a Danish attack on the town in 920. But excavations have found no sign of Vikings. The earliest firm evidence is a moated homestead of the 11th century, occupied into the 1200s and probably linked to the manor of Willington. Whoever really dug the dock, the name has stuck, and the site is now open to visitors on the river.
One sourceOnly one written account of this legend has been found so far.