There was a short period of time, around 927AD, when Sherburn-in-Elmet was the effective capital of England - or much of it as we know it today. This was under Aethelstan or Athelstan, and the site of his palace is alongside the present-day church.

Aethelstan, the most powerful of all Saxon kings, was the eldest son of Edward the Elder, but there is a question or two about his legitimacy.  Edward may not have married Aethelstan's mother Egwina, and although she was later described as “a noblewoman”, the scandal -mongers of the day remembered her as a shepherd's daughter whom Edward took a fancy to in his youth and who bore him two or even three children.  It could be because he was illegitimate that Aethelstan was raised by Edward's sister, Aethelfled, at her court based at Gloucester in Mercia and not at Winchester.  Some authorities make much of the fact that Aethelstan was a favourite of his grandfathers, Alfred, as if he preferred this child over the others and singled him out for succession; in fact Aethelstan was the only grandchild Alfred knew, as all of Alfred's other grandchildren were born after his death.  Nevertheless, because Aethelstan was reared in Mercia he had a loyalty from the Mercians that his forebears had never received.  When Edward died, the Mercians immediately proclaimed him their king whilst the West Saxon witan were still deliberating.  No doubt, if Aethelstan was illegitimate, there was an issue to resolve, and possibly Edward had suggested before his death that Aethelstan would succeed him in Mercia whilst one of his legitimate sons would succeed in Wessex.  Edwin was already sub king in Kent and the obvious choice but perhaps he declined (or, if his recorded death date is in error, he may have already been dead).  There is a suggestion that Elfweard the hermit was summoned to Winchester as a possible candidate, but he died en route, and thereafter there was no other choice but Aethelstan, but he was not confirmed in Wessex until some months after his accession in Mercia.  Even then he was not crowned for over a year. Just what the reluctance was amongst the West Saxons is not clear, and it may be that they just did not trust Aethelstan.  There is no doubt that Aethelstan's strength of character may also have been a disadvantage, because he had a distrust for the Saxon nobility whom he treated with reserve, and they probably saw him as haughty and unwelcoming.  Yet to his subjects he was kind and generous, perhaps because of his own origins.  He was exceedingly generous to the church and delighted in giving gifts and receiving memorabilia.  Like Arthur he was an avid reader but also a collector of treasures he later donated to the church.  He was a tall, if thin, man with long golden hair and conveyed the image of a handsome, powerful knight.  It may be something of Athelstan who lives on in our folk memory of Sir Lancelot.

No sooner was Aethelstan ensconced as king than we find his authority recognized by Sitric Caech of York, the Norse king who had refused to recognize Edward's sovereignty.  Sitric recognized that Aethelstan's power base in Mercia gave him a much greater ability to attack Northumbria if necessary.  Sitric and Aethelstan thus agreed terms and as part of the arrangement Sitric was married to Aethelstan's saintly sister Eadgyth on 30 January 926.  The alliance with Sitric did not last for long, as he refused to accept Christianity, and by March 927 he was dead.  Aethelstan seized this opportunity.  Sitric's brother, Gothfrith, who was king of Dublin, attempted to claim the throne of York, but Athelstan defeated him and, after showing him hospitality, despatched him back to Ireland.  During this episode Aethelstan summoned the kings of Scotland and Strathclyde to Eamont Bridge in July 927 and made them swear that they would not support Gothfrith in his designs upon the throne of York.  Aethelstan entered York, the first Saxon king to do so, since all previous kings before the Scandinavians had been Angles.

During 926 Aethelstan had summoned the Welsh princes to a meeting at Hereford.  Although the three primary rulers had previously paid homage to Edward, there had been a Norse uprising in 924 supported by the Welsh at Chester.  Aethelstan was determined to put a stop to Welsh hostilities in Mercia.  At Hereford he laid down the boundary between Wales and England, particularly the southern stretch which had always been in dispute, where he now specified the Wye, and he exacted harsh tribute from the princes.  It is not clear how far they ever met this demand, but it was evident that they recognized Aethelstan's authority.  Hywel Dda in particular was fascinated by the Saxon court, appreciating its possibilities in Wales, and he learned much from Aethelstan that he was able to put into practice.  Immediately after this agreement, Aethelstan hurried to Devon where the Cornish were again in revolt, probably under their king Hoel.  Aethelstan expelled the Cornish from Exeter. Driving them back over the Tamar, which now became the boundary between Cornwall and England.  He refortified Exeter and it seems he may have taken Hoel hostage to ensure the Cornish compliance, because Hoel was with him a year later at Eamont Bridge.

The alliance with the Scots lasted for seven years, a remarkable period of peace and prosperity in England during which time Aethelstan reviewed his troops, improved his fortifications and generally settled down to the government of his subjects.  It seems that Aethelstan also made friends with the king of Norway, Harald Fairhair or Finehair, who sent gifts to Aethelstan and also adopted the current vogue for fostering by sending his son, Haakon, then aged about seven, to Athelstan's court to benefit from understanding the English form of government.  One consequence of this was that Haakon became such a welcome king in Norway that the elders deposed his brother, Erik Bloodaxe, who immediately became a problem for Aethelstan's successors.  This was but one example of Aethelstan's role in Europe.  Because of a series of political marriages amongst his aunts and his own sisters, Aethelstan was on close terms with many of the major rulers in Europe.  These included Count Baldwin of Flanders, who had married his aunt Elfreda, Charles III of France, who had married his sister Edgiva, the influential Hugh, Count of Paris, who had married another sister, Edhilda, and Otto, duke of Saxony and subsequently German emperor, who had married a further sister, Eadgyth.  There was another possible half-sister who married Gorm the Old, the first king of a united Denmark.  All of this demonstrates that Aethelstan was a key activist on the international scene, and though it is not recorded that he travelled abroad, his relationships improved trade and culture in England extensively.

In 934 Aethelstan was incensed when the Scottish king Constantine married his daughter to Olaf Gothfrithson of Dublin, which Aethelstan saw as a flagrant breach of the Eamont treaty.  He decided to give Constantine a lesson and in 934 he raised a huge army, which increased in numbers as he marched north from Winchester, and he devastated Scotland en route as far north as Fordun.  Constantine recognized Aethelstan's power, but it only made him all the more determined to seek the support of Olaf as a defense against the English might.  In 937, after the death of Gothfrith, Olaf combined his army with Constantine's.  He took York and marched down into Mercia.  Aethelstan met him at Brunanburh, near Nottingham.  It was one of the most decisive of all Saxon victories, and passed into legend.  From then until his death two years later Aethelstan ruled peacefully, the complete master of his realm.  Aethelstan's reign was remembered by later annalists as a golden age, and certainly there would be little like it again for many years to come.  Aethelstan died of an illness, probably a manifestation of the same malady, which afflicted his family, many of whom died young.  He was only forty-four.  Aethelstan had never married, and he was succeeded by his half-brother Edmund.