DETECTING SAXON REPTON

Repton Vicarage Garden Archaeological Dig

I became interested in archaeology from a young age when my dad would always take me to castles on holidays; of course, my initial interest was in knights and medieval weapons!

But as I began to learn about English history, my fascination grew. So, when, through an acquaintance with Andy Austin of the Repton Historical Society, I was given the opportunity to participate in an archaeological dig in the St Wystan’s Vicarage garden, I jumped at the opportunity.

This dig was led by Prof Mark Horton (of Channel 4’s Time Team) and Dr Cat Jarman, author of River Kings and TV and podcast presenter. We were also fortunate enough to be visited by Prof Martin Biddle who had led the digs of the Viking settlement at Repton in the 70s/80s (the dig which unearthed the famous Viking sword).

Building on the earlier digs, we primarily focused on the earlier midSaxon era. The excavation included expanding the pit to the east to fully uncover the graves; this allowed us to excavate a Saxon cobbled footpath that had later been constructed on top of these graves. In this layer, on 2nd April 2023, half of a penny of King Offa (ruled 757-796 CE) was uncovered by archaeologists from the Universities of Leeds, Oxford, Cambridge, and the Royal Agricultural College, amongst others.

The graves weren’t fully excavated until around April 5th, and the skeletons were found to be in a heavily degraded state, a consequence of being buried below the water table, although one grave was in exceptional condition (pictured right). The graves (one containing a skeleton) were orientated in an east-west direction and lacked burial goods, making it likely that they were ecclesiastical burials, related to the monastery (c. 653-873CE). At the same time on the west side of the pit the remains of a seax (Saxon knife) were found, although it was heavily rusted.

BEGINNER'S LUCK!

My role was metal-detecting, marking the ground within the pit with pegs where the detectors beeped, and looking for finds in the dirt removed. I was fortunate enough on April 4th to uncover the second half of the King Offa penny while metal-detecting through the excavated dirt. And later in the same pile came the highlight of my dig - finding a mid-Saxon cloak pin (pictured right). The pin was made of bronze, so probably would have been worn by a land-owning member of the upper echelons of Saxon society.

Personally, I found the experience of uncovering something that no-one had seen for 1500 years to be amazing.

A Brief History Of Repton

420CE The Romans leave Britain c. 450CE The Saxons start to settle in Britain c. 550CE Saxons settle in Repton

653CE King Peada converts to Christianity

… and Christianity is preached in Mercia for the first time; tradition holds that the market cross commemorates the original event and Repton becomes the ecclesiastical centre of the Kingdom of Mercia, St. Wystan’s crypt would remain the burial place of the Mercian royal family, until 873-874CE when the Great Heathen Army sacked and wintered in Repton.

There is no disguising the fact that I felt a certain pride that, if I had not dug it up, it might never have been seen again! I very much hope to have the opportunity to do it once again. Sadly, it is likely to be the last excavation at the Vicarage.

Hugh L (L6O)

Preserving the Vicarage as an archaeological site

The Vicarage still remains a partially-untapped site, with the potential of further graves yet to be found, and a possible mound along the eastern wall. This is why the uncertainty surrounding the future of the plot is so concerning to me and many others.