Welcome back, time travellers!
Yesterday we said goodbye to the Romans. They left Britain in 410 AD. Britain felt empty and unsafe.
But not for long! New people came in long boats from across the sea. They had ships with dragon heads on the front. Their helmets were shiny. Their swords were sharp.
These were the Anglo-Saxons.
Who were the Anglo-Saxons?
The Anglo-Saxons were three groups of people from across the North Sea:
| Group | Where they came from |
|---|---|
| Angles | North Germany / Denmark |
| Saxons | North Germany |
| Jutes | Denmark |
They came in long, narrow boats with one big square sail.
At first they came to fight. Later they came to stay. They liked the green fields of Britain. So they brought their families and started new homes.
The word “England” comes from “Angle-land” — the land of the Angles!
Where did they live?
The Anglo-Saxons made small villages, not big towns. A village had:
- Wooden houses with a thatched roof (made of straw)
- A bigger building called a hall for the chief
- Fields for crops
- A few sheep and cows
People lived together as a family in one room. The fire was in the middle. There was no chimney — the smoke just went up through a hole in the roof.
What did they wear?
Anglo-Saxon clothes were simple:
- Men wore a tunic (a long shirt) and trousers
- Women wore a long dress with a belt
- Both wore wool cloaks when it was cold
- Rich people had bright colours and jewellery
The Seven Kingdoms (the Heptarchy)
The Anglo-Saxons did not have one king. Instead, Britain was split into seven big kingdoms. We call this the Heptarchy (say “Hep-tar-key”). “Hept-” means seven.
| Kingdom | Where it was |
|---|---|
| Northumbria | North of England |
| Mercia | The Midlands |
| East Anglia | Norfolk and Suffolk |
| Essex | Around London |
| Wessex | South-west |
| Sussex | South coast |
| Kent | South-east corner |
Each kingdom had its own king. They sometimes fought each other, and sometimes they helped each other.
What about the Celts?
When the Anglo-Saxons arrived, the Celts who lived in Britain moved away.
- Some moved to Wales (in the west)
- Some moved to Cornwall (in the south-west)
- Some moved to Scotland (in the north)
- Some moved to Ireland (across the sea)
Welsh, Cornish and Scottish Gaelic are still spoken today. They are old Celtic languages.
Sutton Hoo — a king’s secret grave
Now for the most exciting part! In 1939, a woman called Edith Pretty lived in Suffolk, in the east of England. On her land were strange grassy mounds. She wondered, “What is under there?”
She paid a man called Basil Brown to dig.
What he found was AMAZING.
Under the biggest mound was a whole ship, 27 metres long! It was buried in the earth. The wood had rotted away, but it left a perfect ship-shaped hole.
Inside the ship was a king’s burial chamber. There was:
- A beautiful gold belt buckle
- A shining iron helmet with a face on it
- A sword, a shield, and a harp
- Silver bowls from far-away lands
- Gold coins from France
The king was buried with everything he loved! He sailed into the next world in style.
This place is called Sutton Hoo. The treasures are now in the British Museum in London.
Most people think the king buried there was Raedwald, a king of East Anglia, who died around 624 AD.
You can visit Sutton Hoo today. There is a famous film about the discovery called The Dig (2021).
How did the Anglo-Saxons live each day?
A boy or girl in an Anglo-Saxon village might:
- Wake up at sunrise
- Help feed the chickens and pigs
- Go to a small river to get water
- Help mum bake bread in a clay oven
- Eat porridge, cheese, eggs, vegetables and bread
- Play games like knucklebones (like jacks) or catch
- Listen to the men tell stories around the fire at night
- Go to bed in the same room as everyone else
Most kids did not go to school. They learned at home from their parents.
Christianity comes to England
When the Anglo-Saxons first came, they had many gods. The names of our days come from these gods!
- Tuesday — from Tiw, the god of war
- Wednesday — from Woden, the chief god
- Thursday — from Thor, the god of thunder
- Friday — from Frigg, the goddess of love
In 597 AD, a man called St Augustine came from Rome. He brought a new religion: Christianity. The king of Kent, Ethelbert, became a Christian. Slowly, the rest of England did too.
Many old churches and monasteries were built. Monks copied books by hand. They made beautiful pictures called illuminations.
One of the most beautiful old books is the Lindisfarne Gospels, made on the island of Lindisfarne in Northumbria around 700 AD.
Who were the Scots?
While the Anglo-Saxons settled in England, another group came to the north. They were the Scots.
The Scots came from Ireland. They sailed to the west coast of what we now call Scotland. In fact, “Scotland” means “land of the Scots”!
The Scots and the Picts (who already lived there) eventually became one kingdom. That kingdom became Scotland.
Fun facts
- The famous poem “Beowulf” was written by Anglo-Saxons. It is about a hero who fights a monster called Grendel.
- Anglo-Saxon kids made toys from wood and bone. They had wooden horses on wheels, dolls, and a board game called Tafl (a bit like chess).
- The Sutton Hoo helmet has a fierce face with a dragon going up the eyebrows.
- We use lots of Anglo-Saxon words every day! “House”, “bread”, “friend” and “sun” are all Anglo-Saxon.
Words to remember
- Anglo-Saxon: a person from a tribe that came to Britain after 410 AD
- Heptarchy: the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (“hept” means seven)
- Tunic: a long shirt
- Sutton Hoo: a famous Anglo-Saxon ship burial in Suffolk
- Monk: a religious man who lives in a monastery
- Lindisfarne Gospels: a beautiful Anglo-Saxon book of stories about Jesus
Talk about it
- Why do you think the king at Sutton Hoo was buried in a ship?
- The names of our days come from old gods. Which day is your favourite, and what does the name mean?
- The Anglo-Saxons came across the sea in small wooden boats. Would you do that today?
- Most Anglo-Saxon kids did not go to school. What would you miss?
Quick summary
- The Anglo-Saxons came from Germany and Denmark after 410 AD.
- England got its name from the Angles.
- Britain was split into seven kingdoms (the Heptarchy).
- A king’s ship grave was found at Sutton Hoo in 1939.
- St Augustine brought Christianity in 597 AD.
- The Scots came from Ireland to Scotland.
Next article
Tomorrow we meet some scary visitors with axes and dragon ships. They are the Vikings! And we’ll learn about a famous king called Alfred the Great. See you then!