List of Anglo-Saxon cemeteries

Anglo-Saxon cemeteries have been found in England, Wales and Scotland. The burial sites date primarily from the fifth century to the seventh century AD, before the Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England. Later Anglo-Saxon period cemeteries have been found with graves dating from the 9th to the 11th century. Burials include both inhumation and cremation. Inhumation burials before the late seventh century when pagan funerary rituals were the norm, often consisted of rectangular graves, with coffins or were lined with stones. High status burials, often held burial furniture, predominantly burial beds. Grave goods were often placed with the body, and included jewellery, especially Anglo-Saxon brooches, weapons, tools, and household items.

List of Anglo Saxon Cemeteries

This is a partial list of Anglo-Saxon Cemeteries.

Cemetery Name	Location	Time period of burials	No of burials	Discovery	Notes
Abingdon	Abingdon, Oxfordshire	5th to early 6th centuries CE	204	1934	Bronze Age barrow discovered on cemetery site. Seventy-three inhumations had grave goods, including brooches, buckles, spears and knives.[1]
Barnstaple	Barnstaple, Devon	10th centuries CE	105	1970s	[2]
Bergh Apton	Bergh Apton, Norfolk	late 5th to late 6th centuries CE	63	1973	Burial finds, including fragments of a lyre are held at the Norwich Castle Museum[3]
Berinsfield	Berinsfield, South Oxfordshire	5th to early 7th centuries CE	118	1974	Multiple brooches and a variety of brooch types found in female graves.[4][5]
Blacknall Field	Pewsey, Wiltshire	late 5th century to mid 6th centuries CE	110	1970	50 graves contained metalwork, including swords, scabbards, spears, hilts, knives, belts, buckles, bowls, jewellery[6]
Bowl Hole	Bamburgh, Northumberland	6th to 7th centuries CE	100+	1997	Final phase burial ground, cist burials[7]
Buckland	Dover, Kent	late 5th to mid 8th centuries CE	420	1951 and 1994	Graves included examples of both pagan and Early Christian burial rituals. Later excavations found more burials a short distance away.[8][9]
Caister-on-Sea	Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk	?	?	1954, 1979 excavation	Anglian cemetery with boat burials.[10]
Cleatham	Cleatham, North Lincolnshire	5th to early 7th centuries CE	1508	1984–1989 excavation	1204 cremation urns [11][12][13]
Collingbourne Ducis	Collingbourne Ducis, Wiltshire	5th to 7th centuries CE	120	1974	The largest number of burial remains in Anglo-Saxon Wiltshire. Includes a bed burial[14]
Elsham	North Lincolnshire	5th to early 7th centuries CE	552	1975–1976 excavation	552 cremation burials containing 564 individuals (due to multiple burials). Seven early medieval inhumations and two Bronze Age inhumations.[12][13]
Edix Hill	Barrington, Cambridgeshire	mid 6th to early 7th centuries CE	300	1989–1991 excavation	Unusual furnished bed burial/skeleton determined to have leprous changes[4]
Finglesham	Sandwich, Kent	6th to 8th centuries CE	201	1928	Burial mound cemetery [15]
Fordcroft	Orpington, London	5th to 6th centuries CE	71	1965	Site of mixed cremations and inhumations. Evidence of Romano-British occupation at site.[16][17]
Great Chesterford	Great Chesterford, Essex		161	1952	An unusually large number of children's graves [18]
Great Ryburgh	Great Ryburgh, Norfolk	7th to 9th centuries CE	89	2016	81 rare hollowed out tree trunk coffins and 8 plank lined graves[19][20]
Harford Farm	Markshall, Norfolk	late 7th century	46	1932	Multiple period site, multiple burials with grave goods.[4][21][22]
Illington	Illington, Norfolk	6th to 7th centuries CE	203	1949	Largely cremation cemetery with three inhumations.[23]
Jarrow Monastery	Jarrow, Northumbria	7th to 11th centuries CE	132	1963–1969 Excavation	Predominantly male burials.[24]
Lovedon Hill	Loveden, Lincolnshire	5th to 7th centuries CE	32+ inhumations, 1297+ cremations	1925	Glass claw beakers, bronze hanging bowls, coptic bowl[25]
Lower Farm	Bishop's Cleeve, Gloucestershire	6th century CE	26	1969	One grave contained a snaffle bit, rare in an Anglo-Saxon context.[26]
Mill Hill	Deal, Kent	7th century CE	112+	1940	inhumation only cemetery.[4]
Mucking	Mucking, Essex	5th to early 7th centuries CE	800	1965–1978 excavation	The cemetery is on the same site as Romano-British settlement.[27]
Norton-on-Tees	Norton-on-Tees, County Durham	6th to early 7th centuries CE	120	1982	In 2012, the skeletal remains from the burial site were loaned to the University of York for stable isotope analysis to determine the origin of the individuals.[28]
Overstone	Overstone, Northamptonshire	5th to 11th centuries CE	154	2019	Over 3000 grave goods found including jewellery , weapons and household items. The remains of an Anglo-Saxon settlement was also uncovered.[29]
Ozengell	Monkton, Thanet, Kent	5th to 11th centuries CE	94	1846	Several graves included post holes, which indicate timber structures related to the burials.[30]
Polhill	Sevenoaks, Kent	7th to 8th centuries CE	200–220	1984–1986 excavation	See Polhill Anglo-Saxon cemetery
Raunds Furnells	Northamptonshire	10th century CE	363	1975	Christian burial rituals, no grave goods[31]
Saltwood Tunnel	Saltwood, Kent	6th to 7th centuries CE	217		Three separate inhumation cemeteries[32]
Sancton I	Sancton, East Yorkshire	5th to 7th centuries CE	365	1976–80	Largely cremations, with one inhumation found.[33]
Sancton II	Sancton, East Yorkshire	6th century CE			Mixed rite cemetery, 1.5 km away from Sancton I.[33]
Sarre	Sarre, Kent	5th to 7th centuries CE	400	1860	Site part of earlier Iron Age settlement. Sarre brooch.[34]
Scremby	Skegness, Lincolnshire	5th to 6th centuries CE	49	2018–2019	Furnished graves[35]
Sedgeford	Sedgeford, Norfolk	7th to 9th centuries CE	400+	1957–2007	Cemetery first discovered in the early 20th century, with further excavations 1957–60. More extensive excavations by Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project found the bulk of the remains between 1996–2007. Burials follow a broadly Christian rite, buried in an east-west alignment with no grave goods.[36]
Sewerby	Sewerby, East Yorkshire	5th to 7th centuries CE	50+	1959 and 1974	Contained a supine individual, buried with arms and legs splayed, thought to have been buried live possibly as a sacrifice.[37]
Shrubland Hall Quarry,	Coddenham, Suffolk	7th century CE	50	1999	Multiple bed burials[38]
Snape	Aldeburgh, Suffolk	6th to 7th centuries CE		1824–1992	Boat Burial, Snape Ring.[39]
Spong Hill	North Elmham, Norfolk	5th century CE	2600	1970's excavation	The largest early Anglo-Saxon burial site excavated in England.[40]
Stanton	Ixworth, Suffolk	5th to 7th centuries CE	70	2013	Cemetery built on earlier site of Bronze Age round barrow.[41]
Street House	Loftus, North Yorkshire	Mid to late 7th century CE	109	2005–2007 excavation	The cemetery included a female bed burial, which contained cabochon pendants and a gold shield-shaped pendant.[42]
Stretton-on-Fosse	Stretton-on-Fosse, Warwickshire	Late fifth to sixth centuries CE	53	1968—1970 excavation	The cemetery included a variety of brooches in different styles, amber and glass beads, spears, and shield bosses[43]
Sutton Hoo	Woodbridge, Suffolk	6th to early 7th centuries CE	Unknown	Ship uncovered in 1939	Burial site contains undisturbed ship burial, execution burials, multiple important artifacts. See Sutton Hoo
Swallowcliffe Down	Swallowcliffe, Wiltshire	7th century CE	?	1966	Archaeologists discovered the richest and most complex female grave, bed burial ever discovered in England[4]
Tranmer House	Bromeswell, Suffolk	5th to 6th centuries CE	34+	2000	Partially excavated mixed rite cemetery, dates immediately prior to Sutton Hoo[44]
Trumpington	Trumpington, Cambridgeshire	Mid 7th centuries CE	4	2011	Bed burial of teenage girl, which included a rare gold pectoral cross inlaid with garnets, the three other burials were all females.[45]
Updown (Eastry III)	Eastry, Kent	7th century CE	c. 300	1973	Excavated in 1976 and 1989, investigating 78 burials – all inhumations. The site measures approximated 150 by 80 metres (490 by 260 ft).[46]
Walkington Wold	Walkington, Yorkshire		12	1967	Execution cemetery[4][47]
Wasperton	Wasperton, Warwickshire	5th century CE	140	1980	Roman/Anglo Saxon Cemetery. 116 inhumations and 24 cremations were determined to be Anglo-Saxon. 40 inhumations have been determined to be Roman, 44 inhumations could not be dated. The graves included spears, shields, knives, brooches and beads.[48][49]
Wendover	Wendover, Buckinghamshire	5th to 6th centuries CE	141	2021	138 graves uncovered, with 141 inhumation burials and 5 cremation burials. The graves included a silver zoomorphic ring, iron spearhead, male skeleton with an iron spear point lodged in his spine, copper alloy tweezers.[50][51]
Wolverton	Wolverton, Buckinghamshire	Late 6th to 7th century CE	76	2007-2008	Seventy-six graves were excavated, containing eighty inhumation burials: five empty graves, two urned cremations and two possible disturbed cremations were also recorded[52]
Worthy Park	Kings Worthy, Hampshire	7th century CE	140	excavation 1961–1962	46 urned cremation burials which included primarily combs and grooming tools[4]

External links

• Anglo- Saxon treatment of older women during burial
• The Ghostly Treasure Ship of Sutton Hoo
• 1,300-year-old Anglo-Saxon cross presented to Cambridge museum

See also

• Burial in Anglo-Saxon England
• Bed burial
• List of Anglo-Saxon bed burials
• Sutton Hoo

Further reading

• Bayliss, Alex; Hines, John, eds. (2013). Anglo-Saxon Graves and Grave Goods of the 6th and 7th Centuries AD: A Chronological Framework (Society for Medieval Archaeology Monographs). Routledge. ISBN 978-1909662063.
• Buckberry, Jo; Cherryson, Annia, eds. (2010). Burial in Later Anglo-Saxon England c 650—1100 AD. Oxbow Books. ISBN 978-1842179659.
• Glasswell, Samantha (2002). The Earliest English: Living and Dying in Early Anglo-Saxon England. Tempus. ISBN 978-0752425344.
• Lucy, Sam (2000). The Anglo-Saxon Way of Death: Burial Rites in Early England. Sutton. ISBN 978-0750921039.
• Lucy, Sam; Reynolds, Andrew, eds. (2002). Burial in Early Medieval England and Wales. Routledge. ISBN 978-1902653655.

Worthy Park

• Hawkes, Sonia Chadwick; Wells, Calvin (1975). "Crime and Punishment in an Anglo-Saxon cemetery?". Antiquity. 49 (194): 118–122. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00063481.
• Hawkes, Sonia Chadwick; Grainger, Guy (2003), The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Worthy Park, Kingsworthy, near Winchester, Hampshire, Oxford University School of Archaeology Monographs, vol. 59, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0947816607

Berinsfield

• Lacy, Sam; et al. (2014). "Anglo-Saxon origins investigated by isotopic analysis of burials from Berinsfield, Oxfordshire, UK". Journal of Archaeological Science. 42 (1): 81–92. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2013.10.025.

References

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