Other writers place the battle near Starveall, a short distance north of the village of Aldworth and south east of Lowbury Hill.

At the end of 870 they launched an attempt to conquer Wessex and marched from East Anglia to Reading, arriving on about 28 December.

Three days after their arrival they sent out a large foraging party, which was defeated by an army of local levies under the command of Æthelwulf, Ealdorman of Berkshire, at the Battle of Englefield, but only four days later the main West Saxon army under Æthelred and Alfred was defeated at the Battle of Reading.

When the West Saxons heard this from their scouts, they decided to copy the formation, with Æthelred facing the kings and Alfred the earls.

Æthelred would not cut short his devotions and Alfred risked being outflanked and overwhelmed by the whole Danish army.

Although both the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Asser emphasise Alfred's role in the victory, in the view of Richard Abels it was the attack by Æthelred when he joined the battle which was decisive and he might have intended all along to take the Vikings unawares.