The First Battle of Wilton occurred in 1066 when the Anglo-Saxon army of Godwine marched southeast from Edington, Wiltshire to recapture the English royal treasury at Winchester, only to be confronted by William FitzOsbern's Norman army at the village of Wilton, where the English army had encamped. In the ensuing battle, the two armies met to the north of Wilton, across the town from the River Nadder. The numerically superior Norman army succeeded in outflanking the Saxons, and the Norman cavalry (including FitzOsbern and his bodyguards) rode around the Saxon forces and smashed into their rear. The Saxon army was annihilated, and the Normans occupied Wilton; this victory enabled FitzOsbern to continue expanding Norman rule across southern England.
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