Sutton Hoo helmet
_Where to find Anglo-Saxons in East Anglia
Before the Normans, there were Anglo-Saxons and Vikings
One of the most important and recognisable dates in English history is 1066 when Duke William of Normandy defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings and earned his sobriquet Conqueror as well as the English Crown, but it also meant the end of 600 years of Anglo-Saxon rule, not least in East Anglia.
Before then, England was a patchwork of independent kingdoms of the German tribe of the Angles and Saxons. The eastern Angles formed the Kingdom of East Anglia, comprising the South Folk and the North Folk, what we know today as Suffolk and Norfolk.
There are contrasting opinions of how the Anglo-Saxons came to dominate England, and what happened to the post-Roman Britons.
Some suggest that they took by force, others that they came as protectors in return for settlement and there was assimilation, the indigenous Brittonic culture slowly replaced by a Germanic one.
Viking Hingham Hoard can be seen a Norwich Castle
The Anglo-Saxon period lasted from the 5th century to the 11th century, during which time the country was transformed from a subsistence economy based around riverside settlements to a sophisticated society that included royal ship burials and the foundation of bishoprics, monastic houses and churches, villages and towns.
The period also saw conversion to Christianity, the adoption of coinage, and the implementation of laws, language and administration. Crucially for East Anglia, there were major advances in farming practices and fenland drainage.
During the middle of the 9th century, East Anglia became an integral part of the Viking’s North Sea world when the Viking Great Army camped in Thetford in AD 869, capturing and martyring King Edmund of East Anglia.
East Anglia remained under the Vikings, as part of Danelaw, until the region became part of a unified Kingdom of England in AD 927 under King Athelstan. The name England comes from ‘Englaland’, meaning land of the Angles.
By the time the Normans arrived in East Anglia, the region was established very much as we know it today.
One of the Anglo-Saxon Sutton Hoo mounds
Sutton Hoo
One of the most evocative places to understand the Anglo-Saxons is to visit the Royal ship burial site of King Raedwald at Sutton Hoo on the River Deben near Woodbridge. 2001 saw the release of The Dig movie, based on John Preston’s book about the excavation of the site starring Ralph Fiennes as the Suffolk-born archaeologist Basil Brown.
Norwich Castle Keep
Norwich Castle
Norwich Castle has an Anglo-Saxons and Vikings gallery comprising over 900 objects including the mysterious 'Spong Man', a 6th century ceramic cremation pot lid, excavated from Spong Hill, North Elmham. It is the earliest known three-dimensional depiction of an Anglo-Saxon person.
The gallery also includes the Viking Hingham Hoard, from around AD 865-869.
Visit the new Norwich Castle Keep
West Stow
One of the best examples of an Anglo-Saxon settlement was excavated at West Stow, on the northern bank of the River Lark near Bury St Edmunds, occupied between AD 420-650, more than 400 years before the Norman Conquest. Around 70 sunken-featured buildings were constructed on the site, along with 8 halls, each around 8-15 metres long, and a number of other features. The site was subsequently abandoned and turned to agricultural land.
Reconstructions have been made of many of the buildings which give visitors an idea of how Anglo-Saxons lived.
Ruins of Venta Icenorum Roman town
Venta Icenorum
Venta Icenorum at Caistor St Edmund near Norwich was built by the Romans but taken over by the Anglo-Saxons when the Romans left in the early 5th century. Remains include ramparts, defensive walls, and the outline of a forum, baths and temples.
The late-Anglo-Saxon St Peter and St Paul's church, Burgh Castle
Burgh Castle
Burgh Castle near Great Yarmouth is another example of the Anglo-Saxons repurposing Roman architecture. Built as part of the Saxon Shore Forts in the late 3rd century AD, Burgh Castle was designed to defend against Saxon pirates but by the 7th century, the fort was turned into a monastic settlement, likely founded by St. Fursey in the early 630s, making it an important religious and defensive site in Anglo-Saxon England.
Excavations in the mid-20th century discovered a Saxon timber church in the south-west of the fort, with a Christian cemetery attached.
Dunwich was a huge Anglo-Saxon port
Dunwich
The sea port of Dunwich was a key player in the development of Anglo-Saxon England, facilitating cultural and trade exchange. The town was strategically located, offering access to land and sea routes. Although now lost to the sea and storms, visitors can explore Dunwich’s Anglo-Saxon past in the village museum.
Ruins of the Anglo-Saxon Abbey at Bury St Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds Abbey
Located in what is now the heart of Bury St Edmunds, the remains of the Anglo-Saxon abbey give an indication that this was once one of the most powerful and richest Benedictine monasteries in England.
East Anglian King Sigebert, is said to have founded a monastery at Beodricsworth about AD 630.
The remains of the martyred Anglo-Saxon King Edmund were moved to this site around 903, and his shrine became a place of pilgrimage until Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries. The town was named for the newly-created Saint Edmund.
Canute the Great, king of England and Denmark, founded a Benedictine abbey at St. Edmund’s shrine in 1020.
Frequently asked questions
- Where did the Anglo-Saxons come from?
Three Anglo-Saxons tribes came to England, the Jutes from what is now Denmark and the Angles and Saxons from northern Germany.
The Jutes went to Kent and the Isle of Wight, the Saxons went to Kent and the South Coast, from which we take modern Sussex, and the Angles to Norfolk and Suffolk, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Northumberland,
- When did the Anglo-Saxons come to England?
The exact date and circumstance are unknown, but it’s likely that Germanic tribes saw an opportunity after the Romans left Britannia in the early 5th century. Early sources refer to it as the Adventus Saxonum.
- How did the Anglo-Saxons take over England?
In AD 731 the Venerable Bede recorded that: ‘In the year of our Lord 449… the race of the Angles or Saxons came to Britain in three warships. They were granted a place of settlement, ostensibly to fight on behalf of the country, but their real intention was to conquer it’. A larger fleet followed and the Britons defeated.
- Did the Anglo-Saxons bring Christianity to East Anglia?
The Anglo-Saxons practised Germanic paganism, but were converted to Christianity from the late 6th century by religious missions. Aethelberht of Kent was the first Anglo-Saxon king to be baptised, around 600, and he encouraged other kings to join him.
- What language did Anglo-Saxons speak?
The Anglo-Saxons spoke Old English, the earliest form of the English language, which has Germanic roots. Although very different from Modern English, we can still trace many word we use back to Anglo-Saxon times.
- What Anglo-Saxon names still exist today?
Many of the placenames of Suffolk and Norfolk are from Anglo-Saxon times, elements such as -ing referring to ‘the people of’, -ham and -worth for a central estate or homestead, or -ton for what we would now call a town, -den for a valley, preceded by either a personal name or reference to a topographical feature, plant or animal characteristic of the area.
Then there are -ford and -bridge for a water crossing, -well for spring or stream, -mer and -mere for lake, -wold for wood or higher land, -field for open space (feld being German for felling trees).
The addition of -burgh signified a fortified place.
Examples include:
Didlington – place of Dydda’s people
Harling – place of Herelda’s people
Higham – high homestead
Ickworth – place of the Iceni
Ickburgh – fortified place of the Iceni
Shipdham – sheep homestead
Thetford – the people’s river crossing
Cromer – lake of the crows
Elveden – valley of the elves
Northwold – north wood
Stow, as in Stowmarket or West Stow, means a ‘place of assembly’ in Anglo-Saxon.
- Who came first, the Vikings or Saxons?
The Anglo-Saxons began arriving in England from around AD 410 when the Romans left. Viking incursions began in AD 793 and continued until the Norman invasion of 1066.
- Are there Anglo-Saxon churches in East Anglia?
Most of the Anglo-Saxon round tower churches in England are in Norfolk and Suffolk, 126 and 42 respectively. There are only 8 others, 6 in Essex and 2 in Cambridgeshire.
- What Anglo-Saxon sites are there in East Anglia?
The best remaining Anglo-Saxon site in East Anglia is Sutton Hoo near Woodbridge, where a Royal ship burial site was discovered.
There is an Anglo-Saxon village recreation at West Stow near Bury St Edmunds.
Norwich Castle has an impressive Anglo-Saxons and Vikings gallery.
Venta Icenorum near Norwich and Burgh Castle near Great Yarmouth were Roman sites adopted by the Anglo-Saxons.
The village of Dunwich on the Suffolk coast was a huge Anglo-Saxon port, lost to the sea in medieval times. Discover artefacts and its history in the village museum.
Stay In Touch
Sign up for our newsletter for East of England holiday ideas, places to stay, seasonal guides and local events. We’ll share inspiration for days out, coastal breaks and countryside escapes, plus occasional highlights worth bookmarking. No spam, just helpful updates when there’s something good to share.
