Battle of Aylesford

The Battle of Aylesford or Epsford or Aegelesthrep was fought in 455 AD between Saxon invaders and the native Romano-Britons near Aylesford in the English county of Kent.

It is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as being a battle between the natives led by Vortigern and his sons and the Saxons led by Hengist and Horsa. Horsa and Vortigern's son Catigern were killed.

Two Neolithic chamber tombs nearby, Kit's Coty House and White Horse Stone are attributed in local tradition as being the burial places of Catigern and Horsa respectively.

It is unclear who won the battle. Two years later the Saxons defeated the Britons at a site further west in the Battle of Crayford and the Battle of Aylesford likely consolidated the invaders' presence east of the River Medway.