Visit to Anglo-Saxon village, nr Bury St Edmunds

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John & Mary took us to the West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village near Bury St Edmunds on 18 June. We had come to West Stow Country Park but have not yet visited the Anglo-Saxon Village. We were offered to see the film of the Anglo-Saxon Village at first and were shown collections of pottery, cutlery, armoury items, coins, surgical items and accessories excavated on and around the site of West Stow, and they were classified by the different period, e.g. Ice Age, Stone Age, Bronze Age and Roman Period.



I was given the map of Anglo-Saxon Village that include the pig’s farmyard, Sunken house, Oldest house, Weaving house, (Community) Hall, Living House, Workshop and Farmer’s House. Those thatched houses were reconstructed on the basis of archaeological findings and have been built recently. Some of those houses, e.g. Oldest House built in the 1970s looked quite old. Each house had the relevant tools, materials and furniture. For instance, Weaving house had weaver and Farmer’s house displayed the different size of pots which the villagers would keep the cultivated vegetables and staples and Living house contained the beds and a square shaped fireplace.



According to the guidebook Understanding West Stow, West Stow is located on the line of Old Roman road and River Lark wasn’t far away. This could give the evidence that there was the village of several families’ settlement, and having the river nearby helped them convey crops and materials for their living.



We were also invited to the museum, and were shown how the Northern Europeans including Romans and the Anglo-Saxon King came to Britain, how they settled and how they began and carried on trading, and a wide variety of every items, e.g. bronze bowls, platter, utensils, decorative objects, e.g. gilt bronze square-headed brooch, intricate belt buckle, pendant cross, gold with inlaid garnet (used for Christian ceremony), to name just a few.

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