Sutton Hoo and the Golden Age of Ænglaland
with Dr Sam Newton (Independent Scholar)
at Sutton Hoo, Saturday, 17th January, 2015.
An exploration of some of the artistic and technical wonders found aboard the funeral-ship berthed beneath Mound One at Sutton Hoo overlooking the Deben valley, Britain’s “Valley of the Kings”. This ship-burial and related early Anglo-Saxon treasures, such as the Staffordshire Hoard, show that, far from being “The Dark Ages”, this was truly a Golden Age. A central theme of our day will be the superb jewellery of gold, garnet, and blue glass from Sutton Hoo, which reveals such a brilliant synthesis of styles from Britain and the Continent. Some of the finest of these masterworks appear to have been made in the East Anglian royal workshop, perhaps at Rendlesham as recent excavations suggest, for the king who lay in state in the treasure-laden ship at Sutton Hoo. This is thought most likely to have been Rædwald (died c.625), one of the first overlords all Britain. The golden light of these treasures enables us to reconsider the culture and history of early England.
Provisional Programme
09.50 – 10.15: Coffee on arrival
10.15 – 11.15: The Dream-Ship of Sutton Hoo
11.15 – 11.40: Coffee break
11.40 – 12.40: The Master-Workshop of the Wuffings
12.40 – 13.45: Lunch break
13.45 – 14.35: The Staffordshire Hoard
14.35 – 14.55: Tea break
14.55 – 15.45: The Golden Age of Ængland
c.15.45: Thanks and Close
Some Suggestions for Optional Background Reading
Alexander, M., The First Poems in English (Penguin Classics 2008)
Bruce-Mitford, R., Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology (Gollancz 1974)
Coatsworth, E., & M. Pinder, The Art of the Anglo-Saxon Goldsmith – Fine Metalwork in Anglo-Saxon England: Its Practice and Practitioners (Boydell 2002)
Evans, A.C., The Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial (British Museum 1986)
Heaney, Seamus (tr.) Beowulf: An Illustrated Edition, ed. J.Niles (Norton 2007)
Leahy, K., & R.Bland, The Staffordshire Hoard (British Museum 2009)
Newton, S. The Origins of Beowulf and the pre-Viking Kingdom of East Anglia (Brewer 1993, 2004)
Newton, S., The Reckoning of King Rædwald (Redbird 2003)
Speake, G., Anglo-Saxon Animal Art (Oxford 1980)
Webster, L., & J.Backhouse, The Making of England: Anglo-Saxon Art & Culture AD 600-900 (British Museum 1991)
Webster, L., Anglo-Saxon Art – a New History (British Museum 2012)
About Dr Sam Newton
Sam Newton was awarded his Ph.D in 1991 and is the author of The Origins of Beowulf and the pre-Viking Kingdom of East Anglia (1993) and The Reckoning of King Rædwald (2003). He has lectured widely around the country as an independent scholar and has contributed to many radio and television programmes, especially Time Team.. He is a Director of Wuffing Education, NADFAS lecturer, and tutor for Cambridge University’s Institute of Continuing Education.