Flooding around East Lyng, Somerset, 2014. At the end of the 9th century AD King Alfred the Great established a burh, or fortified settlement, at the eastern end of the Lyng ridge. The town was linked to the nearby stronghold and monastery at Athelney, founded by Alfred a few years earlier, and all were surrounded by the marshes of the Somerset Levels. This image, taken at the height of the flooding in the winter of 2013-2014, shows the logic behind the location of the settlement, now called East Lyng.