A visit to West Stow

This is another post about a place local to me in East Anglia. This one does have definite textile interest. On it’s web site (1) West Stow is referred to as one of England’s great archeological sites, I thought that was quite a boast  but after visiting I think it is well justified. 

The reconstructed village 

But first a bit  of background. West Stow is in Suffolk, about 30 miles from us and one of those places that you think you will go to ‘some time’ and this week was that time. It is just north of Bury St Edmund’s and in an area called Breckland or ‘The Brecks’ (2). My first zoom experience in lockdown was joining a lecture about Anglo Saxons in East Anglia and the lecture contained quite a bit about West Stow. Whilst the 125 acre country park it sits in was open during lockdown the museum section and ‘village’ was not. We decided we would wait to go until the children had gone back to school. Michael had taken the grandchildren before lockdown but I think I last went nearly 40 years ago and it has been much improved since then. 

We were lucky the weather was glorious for September. My main interest in going was to see the warp weighted looms there in a ‘weaving hut’ in the village. I had spent a day learning to weave with a warp weighted loom with Elizabeth Johnston in Shetland. (3)

West Stow Anglo Saxon Village is a recreation on the site of the original village. The settlers are thought to have arrived via the River Lark and to have built the village up a slight hill from the river. Evidence of other settlements occur in the area. By chance this one had been covered by a medieval sandstorm and equally luckily had been found after many years and thus  been more fully excavated. The main excavation was  between 1965 and 1972, although there was some excavation from  about 1878.  The site was occupied by Anglo Saxons  from about 450- 650 AD. There is evidence of 2 types of buildings, a larger type - eg a hall and smaller ones, with 69 of these being mentioned. The Anglo Saxon Village Trust was set up in 1972 and since then 8 buildings have been constructed and today there are 7 and some smaller ones.

A painting giving an impression of the village

 Each of the main buildings show increased complexity in build and their overall construction is noted at the entrance to each. Having lived in a thatched house of later date (15C) for many years, the construction of these Anglo Saxon huts was of much interest to us. 

View of the workshop. I meant to go back and take a picture of the smaller huts. I forgot…so that is another reason for returning. 

Reconstructed door lock 

One of the huts is called the weaving hut and contained the looms. I was pleased that I knew how these worked, and had woven on one myself, sadly these looms had clearly not been used for some time.

I can understand that they were tied so they could not be tampered with but it is a shame. One loom appears to be set up to be the equivalent of a four shaft loom and this is the weaving on it.

Apologies for my head appearing on this, flash was needed in the dark of the hut! 

However, I became interested in much more than what  was on offer in the weaving hut. The displays in the Anglo Saxon Gallery and Visitor Centre were well presented and more extensive than I expected. 

Thought was also given to the place of the Anglo Saxons in West Stow in relation to earlier peoples, particularly the Romans and also to the  later Vikings. East Anglia is such a great place to find out about the story of earlier inhabitants. 

It was actually the clothing and personal accessories that attracted me while I was there. A large number of personal combs (as opposed to combs to be used on fibre) were found- 106 and 120 have both been quoted! 

By studying these it has been possible to work out how they were constructed and this photo shows the different stages.

How the combs were constructed:

…and visually

For too many years Anglo Saxons have been regarded as ‘ lessers’, certainly in terms of their skills and organisation compared to Romans! It seems to me they were much more sophisticated than they have been portrayed as. The jewellery and skill shown in articles made from wood and metal, pottery, basketry and leather and textile work, to say nothing of gaming pieces, musical and art pieces show they were not just living a subsistence existence. Even from this small settlement in Suffolk, excavations have shown trade with other parts of England as well as the Baltic, Mediterranean and Rhineland !

Besides the usual shop items for the children to take home from a school trip, it was good to see a range of more detailed books. 

As usual we started the day with coffee and cake from the cafe, but had taken a picnic with us so cannot comment on what lunch was like. 

After lunch we took a stroll through the country park to see the River Lark. One could imagine the settlers arriving in their boats. Although I did wonder just how much they brought with them. I can’t imagine them unloading sheep, cattle, goats, pigs, horses etc  that had travelled with across the North Sea and then along this river once reaching Britain. 

The Anglo Saxons who settled in this village very much seem to have used local resources and I wonder if they took over animals left by the declining Roman population. 

All in all a great day out. 

Notes

1. More information can be found on the website. www.weststow.org including a short video giving an overview of the village.   The site is open  throughout the year but do check details of opening and admission. A Book ‘Understanding West Stow’ is available to purchase at a very reasonable price (£4.50 in Sept 2021, and gives a very good introduction to the site. The first photo is taken from that. 
2. ‘The Brecks’ is National Character Area number 85, as defined by Natural England and is an area of mainly sandy soil centred around Thetford, Norfolk  and stretching into Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. It is particularly interesting inn terms of nature and archeology. 
3. This was with Elizabeth Johnston in 2018 It was a superb day  and I have written about his previously, see post of 11Nov18.  Elizabeth has co authored a wonderful book about these with Hildur Hakonardottir and Marta Klove Juuhl. The Book concentrating on the the use of these looms in Iceland, Shetland and Norway.It is called The Warp Weighted Loom and the book itself is a thing of beauty.