Saxon Acton

The name Acton is Saxon, being a combination of "Ac" meaning oak, and "Tun,, which has numerous meanings such as an enclosure, settlement, paddock, farm. All the different spellings of Acton, Aketun, Akhetun, Aketune, etc., mean something like "oak settlement". 

Bearing in mind the scarcity of real information of boundaries in Saxon times, the northernmost part of the Parish of Acton is very interesting, for the boundaries of this estate can still be walked with almost complete confidence, which makes it almost unique in Suffolk. 

In 962, the King, Ethelred, granted the estate to one Aethelflaed. to Aelfflaed, wife of Byrhtnoth. The estate was "Balsdon". 

As described in Aelfflaed's Will, it consisted of five 'hides', north of Acton, and its boundaries coincide exactly with those of the parish. 

Later, in the Domesday Book, Balsdon is contained in the larger Acton Estate, held by Seward of Maldon, who had added to Balsdon the poorer lands to the south - another seven hides, making twelve in all - thus forming the present parish of Acton. 

Balsdon, as well as being unusual on account of having its boundaries so clearly defined in Saxon times, is also of great interest in that it belonged to the family of Byrhtnoth. 

"The Battle of Maldon" sometimes known as "Byrhtnoth", is the name given to a fragment of poetry describing a battle at Maldon, Essex in the year 993. The poem, of which only 325 lines survive, is one of the earliest poems in the English language. 

"It is the only extant fragment of a national epic in Anglo Saxon" - History of English Literature. 

The poem, which is based on historical fact, describes how Byrhtnoth, a chief of the East Saxons, met his death as he strove to drive back a band of Vikings whose ships were coming up the Blackwater. He allowed the Norsemen to cross the river before he attacked, thus throwing away his advantage. However, it might have been that he saw it as his duty to wipe out the enemy, not merely to repel them and thus leave them free to attack elsewhere. He did not succeed, but died a hero's death. 

The following is an extract from "The Battle of Maldon" 

"Byrhtnoth drew out his sword from its sheath, 
Broad-faced and gleaming, and made to slash at the seafarer's corselet, But his enemy stopped him all too soon, Savagely striking Byrhtnoth's arm. 
The golden hilted sword dropped from his hand. He could hold it no longer. 
Nor wield a weapon of any kind. Then the old warrior Raised his men's morale with bold words, 
Called on his brave companions to do battle again. He no longer stood firmly on his feet. 
But swayed and raised his eyes to heaven: 

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