n 825, Ecgberht sent Æthelwulf to invade the Mercian sub-kingdom of ​Kent​, and its sub-king,

Baldred​, was driven out shortly afterwards. By 830, ​Essex​, ​Surrey​ and ​Sussex​ had also submitted to
Ecgberht, and he had appointed Æthelwulf to rule the south-eastern territories as King of Kent.​[8]
The Vikings ravaged the ​Isle of Sheppey​ in 835, and the following year they defeated Ecgberht at
Carhampton​ in ​Somerset​,[9]​
​ but in 838 he was victorious over an alliance of ​Cornishmen​ and Vikings
at the ​Battle of Hingston Down​, reducing Cornwall to the status of a ​client kingdom​.[10]​
​ When
Æthelwulf succeeded, he appointed his eldest son ​Æthelstan​ (who died in the early 850s) as
sub-king of Kent.​[11]​ Ecgberht and Æthelwulf may not have intended a permanent union between
Wessex and Kent as they both appointed sons as sub-kings and charters in Wessex were attested
(witnessed) by West Saxon magnates, while Kentish charters were witnessed by the Kentish elite;
both kings kept overall control and the sub-kings were not allowed to issue their own coinage.​[12]