Cuthwulf was the son of Cynric, the king of Wessex. The four towns controlled the north bank of the Thames river from the Chilterns to the Cotswolds—roughly coinciding with the traditional counties of Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. It's possible that the Chiltern-setna, a 4,000-hide group listed in the Tribal Hidage, equate to the territory of these four towns.The 4,000 hides for the Chilternsetna in the Tribal Hidage matches the 4,000 for the three burhs of Oxford, Buckingham and Sashes in the Burghal Hidage from about 100 years later.
