Sarre Anglo-Saxon cemetery is a place of burial that was used in the sixth and seventh centuries CE.
Sarre Anglo-Saxon cemetery is a place of burial that was used in the sixth and seventh centuries CE.
With the advent of the Anglo-Saxon period in the fifth century CE, the area that became Kent underwent a radical transformation on a political, social, and physical level. [1] In the preceding era of Roman Britain, the area had been administered as the civitas of Cantiaci , a part of the Roman Empire, but following the collapse of Roman rule in 410 CE, many signs of Romano-British society began to disappear, replaced by those of the ascendant Anglo-Saxon culture. [1] Later Anglo-Saxon accounts attribute this change to the widescale invasion of Germanic language tribes from northern Europe, namely the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. [2] Archaeological and toponymic evidence shows that there was a great deal of syncretism, with Anglo-Saxon culture interacting and mixing with the Romano-British culture. [3]
The Old English term Kent first appears in the Anglo-Saxon period, and was based on the earlier Celtic-language name Cantii. [4] Initially applied only to the area east of the River Medway, by the end of the sixth century it also referred to areas to the west of it. [4] The Kingdom of Kent was the first recorded Anglo-Saxon kingdom to appear in the historical record, [5] and by the end of sixth century, it had become a significant political power, exercising hegemony over large parts of southern and eastern Britain. [1] At the time, Kent had strong trade links with Francia, while the Kentish royal family married members of Francia's Merovingian dynasty, who were already Christian. [6] Kentish King Æthelberht was the overlord of various neighbouring kingdoms when he converted to Christianity in the early seventh century as a result of Augustine of Canterbury and the Gregorian mission, who had been sent by Pope Gregory to replace England's pagan beliefs with Christianity. [7] It was in this context that the Polhill cemetery was in use.
Kent has a wealth of Early Medieval funerary archaeology. [8] The earliest excavation of Anglo-Saxon Kentish graves was in the 17th century, when antiquarians took an increasing interest in the material remains of the period. [9] In the ensuing centuries, antiquarian interest gave way to more methodical archaeological investigation, and prominent archaeologists like Bryan Faussett, James Douglas, Cecil Brent, George Payne, and Charles Roach Smith "dominated" archaeological research in Kent. [9]
The existence of Sarre was not noted by any of the early antiquarians who studied the Anglo-Saxon cemeteries of Kent. [10] Sarre cemetery was discovered in 1843, and re-examined in 1860, [11] when a number of artefacts were discovered during construction work at Sarre windmill, subsequently being purchased by the British Museum. [10] It was excavated in 1863 by the Kent Archaeological Society, in a project directed by John Brent, who published his findings in the Archaeologia Cantiana journal. [12] Aided by two workmen, he used a metal probe to determine the locations of the graves. [13]
After this excavation, which was believed to have been total, the cemetery was relegated to "the history of archaeology", being considered “arguably the richest Anglo-Saxon burial ground yet discovered”. [14] It was not scheduled as an Ancient Monument. [14]
In 1982, an excavation of the supposed site of St. Giles took place under the directorship of D.R.J. Perkins, revealing Anglo-Saxon graves around 50 metres away from Brent's excavated area. [14] This led Perkins to review the original cemetery plan, and undertake aerial photography of the site; this suggested that there were various features that Brent had not revealed, and that the cemetery was larger than previously believed. [14] It was decided that further excavation of the site was necessary, with the cooperation of the landowners, Church Commissioners, as well as the local farmer, Michael Baxter. [15]
In May 1991, Southern Water commenced a sewage construction near the site, and funded a rescue excavation of the area from the Trust for Thanet Archaeology. [16]
The Jutes were one of the Germanic tribes who settled in Great Britain after the departure of the Romans. According to Bede, they were one of the three most powerful Germanic nations, along with the Angles and the Saxons:
Those who came over were of the three most powerful nations of Germany—Saxons, Angles, and Jutes. From the Jutes are descended the people of Kent, and of the Isle of Wight, and those also in the province of the West Saxons who are to this day called Jutes, seated opposite to the Isle of Wight.
The Kingdom of the Kentish, today referred to as the Kingdom of Kent, was an early medieval kingdom in what is now South East England. It existed from either the fifth or the sixth century AD until it was fully absorbed into the Kingdom of Wessex in the late 9th century and later into the Kingdom of England in the early 10th century.
Reculver is a village and coastal resort about 3 miles (5 km) east of Herne Bay on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. It is in the ward of the same name, in the City of Canterbury district of Kent.
The Medway Megaliths, sometimes termed the Kentish Megaliths, are a group of Early Neolithic chambered long barrows and other megalithic monuments located in the lower valley of the River Medway in Kent, South-East England. Constructed from local sarsen stone and soil between the 4th and 3rd millennia BCE, they represent the only known prehistoric megalithic group in eastern England and the most south-easterly group in Britain.
The White Horse Stone is a name given to two separate sarsen megaliths east of Blue Bell Hill, near the hamlet of Sandling and the village of Aylesford, north of Maidstone, in the south-eastern English county of Kent.
Addington Long Barrow is a chambered long barrow located near the village of Addington in the southeastern English county of Kent. Probably constructed in the fourth millennium BCE, during Britain's Early Neolithic period, today it survives only in a ruined state. Built of earth and about fifty local sarsen megaliths, the long barrow consisted of a sub-rectangular earthen tumulus enclosed by kerb-stones. Collapsed stones on the northeastern end of the chamber probably once formed a stone chamber in which human remains might have been deposited, though none have been discovered.
The Kent Archaeological Society was founded in 1857 to promote the study and publication of archaeology and history, specifically that pertaining to the ancient county of Kent in England. This includes the modern administrative county as well as areas now subsumed by south east London and in the district of Medway.
Jænberht was a medieval monk, and later the abbot, of St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury, who was named Archbishop of Canterbury in 765. As archbishop, he had a difficult relationship with King Offa of Mercia, who at one point confiscated lands from the archbishopric. By 787, some of the bishoprics under Canterbury's supervision were transferred to the control of the newly created Archbishopric of Lichfield, although it is not clear if Jænberht ever recognised its legitimacy. Besides the issue with Lichfield, Jænberht also presided over church councils in England. He died in 792 and was considered a saint after his death.
The Taplow Barrow is an early medieval burial mound in Taplow Court, an estate in the south-eastern English county of Buckinghamshire. Constructed in the seventh century, when the region was part of an Anglo-Saxon kingdom, it contained the remains of a deceased individual and their grave goods, now mostly in the British Museum. It is often referred to in archaeology as the Taplow burial.
Burial in Anglo-Saxon England refers to the grave and burial customs followed by the Anglo-Saxons between the mid 5th and 11th centuries CE in Early Mediaeval England. The variation of the practice performed by the Anglo-Saxon peoples during this period, included the use of both cremation and inhumation. There is a commonality in the burial places between the rich and poor – their resting places sit alongside one another in shared cemeteries. Both of these forms of burial were typically accompanied by grave goods, which included food, jewelry, and weaponry. The actual burials themselves, whether of cremated or inhumed remains, were placed in a variety of sites, including in cemeteries, burial mounds or, more rarely, in ship burials.
Polhill Anglo-Saxon cemetery is a place of burial that was used in the seventh and eighth centuries CE. It is located close to the hamlet of Polhill, near Sevenoaks in Kent, South-East England. Belonging to the Middle Anglo-Saxon period, it was part of the much wider tradition of burial in Early Anglo-Saxon England.
Finglesham Anglo-Saxon cemetery is a place of burial that was used from the sixth to the eighth centuries CE. It is located adjacent to the village of Finglesham, near Sandwich in Kent, South East England. Belonging to the Anglo-Saxon period, it was part of the much wider tradition of burial in Early Anglo-Saxon England.
Buckland Anglo-Saxon cemetery was a place of burial. It is located on Long Hill in the town of Dover in Kent, South East England. Belonging to the Anglo-Saxon period, it was part of the much wider tradition of burial in Early Anglo-Saxon England.
Fordcroft Anglo-Saxon cemetery was a place of burial. It is located in the town of Orpington in South East London, South-East England. Belonging to the Middle Anglo-Saxon period, it was part of the much wider tradition of burial in Early Anglo-Saxon England. Fordcroft was a mixed inhumation and cremation ceremony.
Mill Hill Anglo-Saxon cemetery is a place of burial located close to the town of Deal in Kent, South-East England. Belonging to the Middle Anglo-Saxon period, it was part of the much wider tradition of burial in Early Anglo-Saxon England.
St Mary's Church, Reculver, was founded in the 7th century as either a minster or a monastery on the site of a Roman fort at Reculver, which was then at the north-eastern extremity of Kent in south-eastern England. In 669, the site of the fort was given for this purpose by King Ecgberht of Kent to a priest named Bassa, beginning a connection with Kentish kings that led to King Eadberht II of Kent being buried there in the 760s, and the church becoming very wealthy by the beginning of the 9th century. From the early 9th century to the 11th the church was treated as essentially a piece of property, with control passing between kings of Mercia, Wessex and England and the archbishops of Canterbury. Viking attacks may have extinguished the church's religious community in the 9th century, although an early 11th-century record indicates that the church was then in the hands of a dean accompanied by monks. By the time of Domesday Book, completed in 1086, St Mary's was serving as a parish church.
Sonia Chadwick Hawkes was a British archaeologist specialising in early Anglo-Saxon archaeology. She led excavations on Anglo-Saxon cemeteries at Finglesham in Kent and Worthy Park in Hampshire. She was described by fellow medieval archaeologist Paul Ashbee as a "discerning systematiser of the great array of Anglo-Saxon grave furnishings".
At Eccles in Kent the remains of a huge Roman Villa with palatial dimensions were excavated between 1962 and 1976. In the second century AD, the villa was almost 112 m long. Over 135 different rooms have been identified throughout the various periods of construction and reconstruction. The villa was abandoned in the Fourth century and much of it was removed in the Thirteenth century for the construction of Aylesford Priory.
Stuart Eborall Rigold FSA FRHistS FRSA was a British photographer and archaeologist, who served as president of the British Numismatic Society between 1971 and 1975 and principal inspector of England for the Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments between 1976 and 1978. He had a keen personal interest in medieval architecture on which he studied and wrote extensively, and was a pioneer of the scholarship of timber framing.
A 7th-century cemetery was discovered in Updown, Kent, United Kingdom, in the 1970s. It was excavated by Sonia Chadwick Hawkes and Brian Philp in advance of development. Part of the cemetery is protected as a scheduled monument, and its full extent may encompass around 300 graves. 78 of the graves have been excavated.
