The town of Aldeburgh is located in the county of Suffolk on England’s east coast. It is a popular holiday destination, and it has a population of between 2000 and 2500.
Aldeburgh Facts
The name Aldebugh means old fortification in Old English, but any trace of an Anglo-Saxon settlement has been lost to the North Sea.
Aldebugh was granted borough status in 1529 during the reign of Henry VIII. Most of Aldeburgh’s Tudor buildings have been lost to the sea, but the Moot Hall still survives. The timber-framed building (now home to Aldeburgh Museum) was built in around 1520, and is one of the best-preserved Tudor public buildings in England. It is still used for Town Council meetings.
In the 16th century and early 17th century, Aldeburgh was a key port and a centre of shipbuilding. The Sea Venture (the flagship of the Virginia Company) was probably built at Aldeburgh (around 1608), along with Francis Drake’s ships, the Greyhound and the Golden Hind.
Over time, the River Alde began to silt up. Because large ships were no longer able to berth there, Aldebugh’s importance as a port declined.
Fishing was the primary source of employment and revenue for the people of Aldeburgh until the arrival of Victorian tourists in the 19th century.
Aldeburgh has two churches – St Peter and St Paul (an Anglican parish church with its 14th-century tower), and the Church of Our Lady and St Peter (a Roman Catholic church located at the top of the Town Steps).
Aldeburgh was a parliamentary borough from 1571 to 1832.
Aldeburgh became the first British town to elect a female mayor. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was appointed to the role in 1908.
Sam Wright became Aldeburgh’s town crier in 2006 at the age of 15, making him the youngest town crier in the world.
Aldeburgh Beach
Can you swim at Aldeburgh?
Aldeburgh beach is often safe for swimming, but it is always a good idea to observe the sea before you decide whether or not to go in. Sometimes the sea can be very rough and it will not be safe for swimming.
Many Aldeburgh residents and holiday-makers take a dip in the sea every morning, even during the winter months.
Every New Year’s Day there is an organised sea swim at Aldeburgh, with races for adults and children.
Can you BBQ on Aldeburgh beach?
BBQs are allowed on the beach at Aldeburgh, and there isn’t a specific zone for BBQ use. All of the normal precautions must be adhered to, and the BBQ and any litter it generates must be disposed of safely.
Can you take dogs on Aldeburgh beach?
From 1st May to 30th Septemeber, dogs are not permitted on the beach at Aldeburgh. During the other months of the year, dogs can be taken onto the beach.
Is Aldeburgh beach sandy?
Aldeburgh is primarliy a pebble beach. During the year, patches of sand sometimes appear along the seashore, but these are few and far between, and typically do not remain for very long.
Other Aldeburgh Information
Who lived in Aldeburgh?
George Crabbe, the famous poet, was born in Aldeburgh. The town is featured in his poems The Village and The Borough. The Benjamin Britten opera Peter Grimes is based on The Borough.
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson became Britain’s first female mayor when she was made Mayor of Aldeburgh. She was also the first woman to qualify as a physician and surgeon.
M. R. James set the story A Warning to the Curious in a fictional version of Aldeburgh named Seaburgh. The Martello Tower and the White Lion Hotel appear in the story.
Composer Benjamin Britten moved to Aldeburgh in 1942. along with Peter Pears and Eric Crozier, he founded the Aldeburgh Festival. He is buried alongside Peter Pears in the graveyard of the Aldeburgh parish church.
Ruth Rendell, the author of the Chief Inspector Wexford crime thrillers, was an Aldeburgh resident.
During his tenure as Ipswich Town manager, Roy Keane lived in Aldeburgh.
Actress Miranda Raison has a holiday residence in Aldeburgh. She is also a member of the Aldeburgh Golf Club.
Isabella Summers (founding member of Florence and the Machine) comes from Aldeburgh.
Actor Bill Nighy has a house in Aldeburgh.
How do you pronounce Aldeburgh?
Although it looks as if Aldeburgh should be pronounced auld-ee-burg, it is actullay pronounced auld-buh-ruh (or alld-bruh)
What is there to do in Aldeburgh?
Does Aldeburgh have a pier?
Construction of a pier at Aldeburgh took place opposite the Moot Hall between 1876 and 1878. It was intended to be more then 170 metres long, although construction was stopped before it could be completed. A Norweigan barque (a three-mast sailing ship) collided with it, causing significant damage. The pier fell into disrepair, and its remains were removed in the early 1900s.
There is currently no pier at Aldeburgh.
Are there arcades at Aldeburgh?
There are not any arcades or amusements at Aldeburgh. There is, however, a cinema.
Is Aldeburgh close to Southwold?
Southwold is located to the north of Aldeburgh with the villages of Thorpeness, Sizewell, Dunwich, and Walberswick between them. It is possible to walk along the coast from Aldeburgh to Southwold. The route is approximately 18 miles long.
You cannot take the same route by car. Instead, you must journey via Leiston and Westleton in order to reach Southwold by road. It takes about 30 minutes to get from Aldeburgh to Southwold by car.
How long does it take to walk from Aldeburgh to Thorpeness?
It takes just over 40 minutes to walk from Aldeburgh to Thorpeness.
The Tollund Man is the name given to the naturally mummified remains of a 5th-century BC man who lived in pre-Roman Iron Age Scandinavia.
Facts About the Tollund Man
The Tollund Man was discovered in 1950 in the Bjældskovdal peat bog, close to Silkeborg in Denmark. The men who found the preserved body, two peat cutters called Viggo and Emil Hojgaard, initially thought they’d found the body of a recent murder victim.
Danish archaeologist Peter Vilhelm Glob was the first archaeologist to view the Tollund Man, and he is probably responsible for the Tollund Man name.
The Tollund Man was discovered about 2.5 metres under the surface.
His body was naked apart from a pointed cap made from sheepskin and wool, a smooth leather belt around his waist, and an animal hide noose pulled tightly around his neck.
It was estimated that the Tollund Man was around 40 years old when he died, and his final meal was made up of porridge and fish.
According to radiocarbon dating, the Tollund Man died somewhere between 405 BC and 380 BC.
The Tollund Man would have been 5′ 3″.
In 1976, the Danish police took fingerprints from the Tollund Man, making his the oldest fingerprints on record.
The remains of the Tollund Man are displayed at the Silkeborg Museum in Denmark. Only the head is original. The rest of his body could not be saved in the 1950s, and a replica was made in 1987.
The remains of more than 500 Iron Age people have been discovered in peat bogs in Denmark over the years.
The Tollund Man was the subject of Seamus Heaney’s The Tollund Man poem.
A character in Margaret Drabble’s novel A Natural Curiosity is obsessed with the Tollund Man.
The UK band The Darkness wrote a song called Curse of the Tollund Man, and the US band The Mountain Goats wrote a song called Tollund Man.
Most historians and archaeologists who have studied the Tollund Man believe that he was the victim of human sacrifice or ritual killing. He was killed by hanging, and the rope left visible grooves on his chin and neck.
Researchers discovered that the Tollund Man was infected with three types of parasites, indicating that he was regularly drinking contaminated water or eating undercooked meat.
Attempts to extract DNA samples from the Tollund Man have so far been unsuccessful. The acid in the peat bog causes DNA to disintegrate.
Kate Malone is an English ceramicist best known for her large, colourful pots inspired by nature and natural forms.
Facts About Kate Malone
Kate Malone was born in London in 1959.
Her father was a football journalist and a TV commentator for ITV.
She first worked with clay at school when she was fourteen years old.
Kate Malone went to Bristol Polytechnic, and she also studied at the Royal College of Art in London.
She has two ceramic studios, one in Thanet (Kent), and one in London.
Kate Malone creates with clay in different spheres – decorative arts, large-scale public projects or installations, and glaze research.
From 2008 to 2010, Kate Malone completed a two-year residence in Barcelona. Before that, she lived in France’s Provence region.
She has a daughter called Scarlet, and her husband is a builder.
Nature is at the root of everything I do. Either I am drawing directly from a natural form, which could be anything from a garlic bulb to a blackberry, or I am capturing something deeper and more essential – the force of nature, the freshness and sense of growth.
Kate Malone
She usually works with T material clay, often used in industrial ceramics, but she has also worked with red clay.
Her work is inspired by natural forms, including the shapes and patterns associated with different fruits and vegetables.
Her work is part of numerous museum and gallery collections, including Manchester Art Gallery, Bristol City Museum, The Ashmolean Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Her work has appeared in exhibitions in cities all over the world, including Houston, Montreal, Charlotte, Belfast, Cardiff, Manchester, Leeds, London, and Bristol.
In 2019, she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to ceramic art.
She was one of the judges on the BBC’s The Great Pottery Throw Down TV show.
Her work is sold through the Adrian Sassoon company, and pieces routinely sell in the five-figure price range.
All my pots are coiled pots and are very simply made – all I really need to make them is a small turntable, a hack saw blade, a few wooden tools and my fingers. I often take quite a complex shape like a pineapple and then pare it down to simple geometric sections which need to be repeated over and over again.
Kate Malone in 2009
She has more than ten employees who help her with her work.
A doodle is a drawing made without a high level of conscious thought. They are usually unplanned and often made while a person is thinking about something else.
Doodles may be abstract or they may have a theme or a concrete subject. People often doodle when they are bored, or daydreaming, and it is common to find doodles in the margins and covers of school books and lecture notes.
Many doodlers find themselves coming back to the same patterns or subjects in their doodles, and different doodlers develop different styles.
Famous doodlers include Samuel Beckett, John Keats, Sylvia Plath, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Alexander Pushkin, Maria Sharapova, Eddie Vedder, and Johnny Depp.
Because they are created on-the-fly, doodles often exhibit a spontaneous, experimental quality that is often missing in planned pieces of artwork. As a result, some artists have embraced doodling as an art form, and have developed styles that seek to capture some of the freshness and fun associated with doodles. This art style is known as Doodle Art, and those who work in this way are known as Doodle Artists.
Doodle art can allow artists to show parts of their personality and artistic style that may not be obvious in their other works of art.
Doodle Artists
Some artists have embraced doodling as an art form, and have either produced artwork solely based on doodling techniques or have used doodling alongside other techniques.
Max Brallier is a children’s author, best known for his The Last Kids on Earth series.
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Facts About Max Brallier
Max Brallier was born in 1983 in Belmont, Massachusetts, United States.
After moving to Pittsburgh with his family when he was four years old, he returned to Massachusetts in 1991, and he attended Joshua Eaton Elementary and Parker Middle School.
Parker Middle School is one of the main inspirations for the middle school that appears in The Last Kids on Earth books.
He attended Reading Memorial High School and studied film at Ithaca College in 2005.
Before becoming an author, Max Brallier worked as a game designer for Poptropica (a virtual world).
His first books for children were the Eerie Elementary books. He wrote these under the pen name Jack Chabert.
He has also written books for LEGO, Adventure Time, and Steven Universe.
His most popular books are The Last Kids on Earth stories, and he has also published a series of books called Galactic Hot Dogs.
In 2019, Netflix produced an animated TV show based on Max Brallier’s The Last Kids on Earth books. Max Brallier is credited as creator and executive producer.
His daughter is called Lila.
He wrote The Last Kids on Earth books because they were the books he would have enjoyed when he was growing up.
Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) and Rosario Dawson (Ashoka Tano) are both voice actors for The Last Kids on Earth TV series.
He collects vintage Star Wars toys, and his favourite Star Wars movie is A New Hope (Episode 4).
He enjoys the movies Big and Elf. He has also been inspired by the movies Labyrinth, The Goonies, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, The Wizard, King Kong vs Godzilla, and the Indiana Jones and Star Wars films.
Elmore Leonard is one of his favourite authors.
Max Brallier likes to write in the morning after he’s had a shower and had a cup of coffee. He writes at home and in coffee shops.
He has enjoyed books written by Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller, Denis Lahane, and Robert B Parker.
He always outlines his books before he writes them, and he often uses a corkboard and index cards to plan out his books’ scenes.
Max Brallier wrote a series of zombie books using the Choose Your Own Adventure format where the reader can choose how the main character responds to different situations in the story. The series was called Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse?
Rover, the dog in The Last Kids on Earth books, is based on a pet Max Brallier had when he was growing up.
Some of the monsters in The Last Kids on Earth series were inspired by the Graboids from the movie Tremors and the rancor from Return of the Jedi.
When he’s not writing, Jack Brallier enjoys playing video games, riding his bike, and travelling.
Some of his favourite books when he was a child included the Where’s Waldo? books, the Hardy Boys series, Harriet the Spy, Bunnicula, the Goosebumps series, and Jeff Smith’s Bone series.
He is a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers NFL team, the Pittsburgh Pirates MLB team, and the Boston Celtics NBA team.
If he had a superpower, he’d like to fly.
His favourite foods are hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, Choco Tacos, Goobers (chocolate-covered peanuts), and Phish Food ice cream.
Max Brallier enjoys the TV shows Firefly, The Simpsons, Seinfeld, and the Regular Show.
Other Max Brallier Information
Why did Max Brallier become an author?
As a child, Max Brallier realized he enjoyed telling stories and he wanted to d something creative when he grew up. He started to write in college, and after he became a marketer for a book publishing company, he began to meet editors and book agents and eventually managed to secure writing jobs for himself.
ATC stands for Artist Trading Card, and ACEO stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals. Both are examples of Pocket Art – artworks with dimensions of 2.5″ by 3.5″ (approximately the same size as standard playing cards and trading cards).
What are ATCs?
Artist Trading Cards are tiny works of art made to be traded between artists. The modern trend for exchanging ATCs is said to have been started in 1997 in Zurich, Switzerland by M. Vänçi Stirnemann when he hosted an ATC swap event. However, artists have been producing the equivalent of ATCs long before 1997, either as small-scale artworks in their own right, or to act as a taster of their style and techniques.
Today there is a vibrant community of Artist Trading Card creators, traders, and collectors.
ATCs can be traded in person or through the mail, and many ATC traders have cards from all over the world in their collections.
Some of the most popular ACEO artists include Susan Fisher, Manuela Mishkova, Gavin Hunt, Bridget Voth, Ty Livingston, and Deborah S. Dellinger.
What are ACEOs?
ACEOs (or Art Card Editions and Originals) are the same as ATCs except for the intent behind their creation. ATCs are designed to be traded for free, whereas ACEOs are made to be sold.
ACEOs can be original works of art or editions (prints of an existing artwork). Prints must be clearly stated as such and they shouldn’t be passed off as originals. ACEOs are usually signed by the artist on the card’s front or back, and, if the ACEO is a print, an edition number should also be added to the card’s reverse.
ACEO’s are often sold directly by artists, and there is also an eBay category dedicated to the sale of this miniature form of artwork.
The prices of ACEOs varies massively. Some can sell on eBay for as little as £1 or $1, whereas others can sell for thousands of dollars or pounds. As with all art, the price is dictated by the reputation of the artist, and the popularity of the subject manner.
Popular subject matters on eBay for ACEOs include drawings of famous people, animals, birds, and landscapes. Abstract ACEOs are also popular, as are those featuring flowers and trees.
What is Card Art?
Card Art or Custom Card Art refers to unique artwork made from an existing trading card or sports card. Commonly, some elements of the original cards are retained and embellished with collage techniques or paint to produce a brand new, one-of-a-kind card. Sometimes elements from a number of cards are combined and sometimes the existing printed artwork is expanded to produce a full art card.
Card Artists tend to establish their own distinctive signature styles, and card art pieces are often signed by the artist on the back of the card.
Sometimes the work of card artists is referred to as Sport Card ACEOs.
Making ACEOs or ATCs
ACEOs or ATCs must measure 2.5″ x 3.5″. If the artwork isn’t this size, it can’t be called an ATC or advertised as an ACEO.
The cards should also not be made from thin paper because they are meant to resemble trading cards.
People use a range of mediums and techniques when they produce their ACTs and ACEOs, including watercolour, mixed media, collage, photography, pencil, and inks.
Many art supply stores and websites now stock packs of blank cards for ATC and ACEO creators and artists to purchase.
Located in Yorkshire, England, the River Swale is a key tributary of the River Ure. The River Swale is approximately 118 km in length, and its source is the confluence of the Birkdale Beck and the Great Sleddale Beck in the Yorkshire Dales. It joins the River Ure near Myton-on-Swale.
Facts About the River Swale
According to the Yorkshire Rivers Trust, the River Swale is the fastest flowing river in the UK.
The River Swale’s valley is known as Swaledale.
Numerous settlements have been built close to the River Swale, including the villages of Healaugh, Reeth, Grinton, Marske, Catterick, Thrintoft, Skipton-on-Swale, Catton, Topcliffe, Asenby, Brompton-on-Swale, and Hudswell. The River Eden also flows past the town of Richmond.
Lots of different species of trees grow close to the River Swale, including ash, birch, rowan, hawthorn, hazel, holly, and bird cherry.
The River Swale was once known as England’s River Jordan because in the 7th century St Paulinus, the first Bishop of York, supposedly baptised thousands of people in the river’s waters at Brompton-on-Swale.
Swaledale
The River Swale’s name may derive from the Anglo-Saxon word sualuae meaning tumultuous river.
It is said that the river can rise 3 metres in only 20 minutes.
Although the River Swale catchment was once the home of the lead mining industry, now the main industry is agriculture.
The River Swale is crossed by the Great North Road at Catterick.
The River Swale flows below Richmond Castle, built in the 11th century.
The waters in some sections of the River Swale appear to be brown in colour. This is because the river runs through peat in its upper course.
People have reported finding deposits of gold in the River Swale.
Richmond Falls are a series of beautiful waterfalls along the River Swale, close to the town of Richmond.
The Swale Way is a walk that follows the course of the river. It has been detailed in a book by Stuart W. Greig.
Richmond Castle from the River Swale (Early 1900s)
The skyscraper at 20 Fenchurch Street, London was nicknamed The Walkie-Talkie because its shape is reminiscent of a two-way radio handset. The building was completed in 2014 and it was designed by the architect Rafael Vinoly.
Here are some facts about the Walkie Talkie (20 Fenchchurch Street).
The building cost more than £200 million to build.
It contains 32 floors of office space.
20 Fenchurch Street is 160 metres tall. Plans were drawn up for a larger building (200 metres tall) but they were scrapped due to concerns about the visual impact such a building would have on St Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London located nearby.
The Sky Garden (London’s highest public garden) is located on the top three floors of the building, and they can be accessed by two express lifts. It has 360-degree views of the city.
The building won the 2015 Building Design Carbuncle Cup awarded annually to the UK’s worst new building.
The building design has been criticised for creating a solar glare problem for streets to the south of the building. The building acts as a concave mirror and reflects light down onto the streets. For two hours a day, this reflected light can be more than six times brighter than direct sunlight. The issue has increased local street temperatures and even caused damage to cars, blistering paintwork, and scorching shop doormats. As a result some people now call the building the Walkie-Scorchie or the Fryscraper.
A permanent sunshade was attached to the building in 2014.
The Walkie-Talkie building replaced another tower located at 20 Fenchurch Street. This building was just over 90 metres tall, and it was demolished in 2008.
Construction of the building was started in 2009 and completed in 2014.
The building has 2 floors below ground level.
It is located in London’s financial district.
In 2017 the building was purchased by LKK Health Products Group (a Hong Kong manufacturing firm) for £1.3 billion (a record purchase price at the time for a single UK office building).
The building’s flared shape means that the top floors have 50% larger areas than those at ground level.
The building’s superstructure is made from more than 9000 tonnes of steel.
When the building was proposed in 2004, its design was criticised by both English Heritage and Unesco.
In response to criticisms of his building’s design, architect Vinoly said, “You can like it or dislike it, but you’re not going to forget it.”
The building overlooks the River Thames.
The building was jointly developed by the Canary Wharf Group and Land Securities (Lanndsec).
The Sky Garden is large enough to host events for up to 450 guests, and the terrace is planted with drought-resistant Mediterranean and South African plants.
Tom Fletcher is best known for being the founder of the band McFly of which he is the main vocalist and rhythm guitarist. He is also a successful songwriter and a bestselling author of children’s books. He appeared on the Strictly ComeDancing TX show in 2021.
Tom Fletcher Facts
Tom Fletcher was born on 17 July 1985 in Harrow, London.
He attended the Slyvia Young Theatre School, and at the age of just ten he appeared in the Oliver! musical in London’s West End.
He went to school with Matt Willis from Busted.
Tom auditioned to be a member of the pop group Busted. He didn’t make it to the final line-up, but he was offered a place on Busted’s songwriting team.
The band McFly formed when Tom Fletcher met Danny Jones. The due moved to London, and by 2003 Harry Judd (drums) and Dougie Poynter (bass) had joined the band.
In 2004, McFly beat the Beatles by becoming the youngest band to have their first album (Room on the 3rd Floor) debut at number one in the charts. Most of the songs were written by Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones.
In 2012 Tom married his girlfriend Fiovanna Falcone. She is an author, a YouTuber and she won the twentieth series of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!
Tom Fletcher has been writing children’s books since 2012. His books have been translated into more than 30 languages.
His height is about 5′ 9″ (or 179 cm).
He wrote On a Rainbow, the official song of the London 2012 Olympics.
His YouTube video titled My Wedding Speech has been viewed more than 20 million times.
Tom appeared in the Paw Patrol movie, voicing a dog character called Rocket.
He has several tattoos, including one of a large triceratops dinosaur on his arm – its three horns represent his three children (Buzz, Buddy and Max).
Did Tom Fletcher write songs for One Direction?
As well as having written songs for Busted, and being one of the key songwriters in his own band McFly, Tom Fletcher wrote the song I Want for One Direction and it was included on their Up All Night album. He also wrote I Would (along with McFly bandmates Dougie Poynter and Danny Jones) for One Direction’s second album Take Me Home, and a track called Don’t Forget Where You Belong for the band’s third album Midnight Memories.
In addition, Tom Fletcher has also written songs for The Vamps, 5 Seconds of Summer and James Bourne.
What was Tom Fletcher’s first book?
Tom Fletcher and McFly bandmate Dougie Poynter collaborated on a children’s book called The Dinosaur that Pooped Christmas. It was released in 2012, and a sequel, The Dinosaur that Pooped a Planet, came out in 2013. Since then, the pair have written several other books in the series,
His first children’s book Tom wrote on his own was called The Christmasaurus. It was published in October 2016.
Who is Tom Fletcher’s famous sister?
Tom Fletcher’s sister is called Carrie Hope Fletcher. She is a bestselling writer, an actress, and a singer-songwriter.
She is younger than Tom, and she made her West End debut in the Miserables in 2001 at the age of nine.
How much did Tom Fletcher win on The Cube?
In 2011, Tom Fletcher appeared on The Cube (an ITV game show). He became only the third person to win £100,000, and he donated the money to the Comic Relief fund and BIRT (Brain Injury Rehabilitation Trust).
Was Tom Fletcher a member of McBusted?
Formed in 2013, McBusted were a supergroup, combing the bands McFly and Busted. The members were Tom Fletcher, James Bourne, Danny Jones, Matt Willis, Dougie Poynter, and Harry Judd. Charlie Simpson (formerly of Busted) didn’t take part.
The band recorded one album McBusted, released two singles, played more than twenty live shows, and broke up in 2015.
Who was Tom Fletcher’s partner in Strictly Come Dancing 2021?
Tom Fletcher appeared on the nineteenth series of the TV show Strictly Come Dancing. He was partnered with Amy Dowden. The couple were voted out on Week 9.
The Anglo-Saxon period in Britain lasted from the mid 5th century to the Norman invasion in 1066.
Most of our knowledge of the Anglo-Saxons comes from the accounts and histories written in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (a collection of writings in Old English, probably started during the reign of Alfred the Great) and from archaeological finds.
During this period of British history, numerous individuals became well-known and famous for their exploits and the lives they lived.
Famous Anglo-Saxon Kings and Leaders
Egbert
King of Wessex from 802 to 839, Egbert (often written as Ecgberht or Ecbert) spent most of the first part of his reign fighting to ensure that Wessex remained independent in the face of Mercia’s growing power.
In the late 820s, after winning the Battle of Ellandun, defeating Wiglaf of Merica, and forcing the Northumbrian king to submit to him at Dore, Egbert briefly made Wessex the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle referred to him as Bretwalda (ruler of all Anglo-Saxxon territories.
Egbert couldn’t maintain this position for long, as Wiglaf soon reclaimed the Mercian throne. Yet, descendants of Egbert continuously ruled Wessex and later, all of Anglo-Saxon England until 1013.
He died in 839 aged about 65.
Alfred the Great
Alfred was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886 and went on to become King of the Anglo-Saxons from about 886 to his death in 899.
He won a crucial victory over the Vikings at the Battle of Edington (878) and negotiated a truce with them that resulted in the formation of the Danelaw.
Alfred revolutionized the Anglo-Saxon military. During his reign, he oversaw the development of a standing army, a network of forts and garrisons, and assembled a fleet of ships to protect his kingdom’s rivers and estuaries.
He also introduced a system of taxation, issued a law code, set up a court school to educate his own children and the children of his nobles, and began a program of translating important books written in Latin into English.
It is thought that Alfred may have suffered from Crohn’s disease.
He died in 899, aged about 50, and he was succeeded by his son, Edward the Elder.
Offa was the Anglo-Saxon King of Merica from 757 to his death in 796.
In the 780s he ruled most of southern England, allying with Wessex, and he also became the overlord of East Anglia.
Although he never managed to gain control of Northumbria, many historians believe he was the most powerful Anglo-Saxon ruler before Alfred the Great.
During his reign, Offa was constantly in conflict with the people of Wales, and his name has been attached to a huge ditch constructed along part of the English / Welsh border. Offa’s Dyke created a defensive barrier and offered views into Wales.
Offa died in 796 and was succeeded by his son Edgfrith.
Edward the Elder
The eldest son of Alfred the Great, Edward ruled as King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death in 924.
By the beginning of the 920s, Edward ruled Wessex, Mercia and East Anglia.
At the Battle of Tettenhall, he defeated an army of Northumbrian Danes, and with his sister Aethelflaed, the Lady of Mercia, he built a series of forts and fought a series of battles to overcome the Danish settlers in East Anglia and southern Britain.
He died in Cheshire after defeating a Merican and Welsh revolt, and he was buried in Winchester.
Edward was succeeded by his son, Athelstan.
Athelstan
Most modern historians believe that Athelstan became the first King of England when he overcame England’s last remaining Viking kingdom in York.
In 937 the Vikings invaded England and Athelstan defeated them in the Battle of Brunanburh.
Athelstan was thought to be an effective leader, building on the work of his grandfather, Alfred the Great.
He was a devout Christian and was known for collecting religious relics and funding the building of churches.
Athelstan died in 939 and the men of York immediately crowned Olaf Guthfrifthson as their king. Anglo-Saxon control of York would not be won back for good until 954.
Harold Godwinson was the last Anglo-Saxon King of England.
A powerful earl with links to Knut the Great, Harold was crowned in Westminster Abbey when Edward the Confessor, his brother-in-law, died without leaving an heir.
He successfully defeated Harald Hardrada of Norway in the Battle of Stamford Bridge, before being defeated by William of Normandy in the Battle of Hastings on 12 September 1066.
Harold was killed during the Battle of Hastings, and although it was traditionally said that he died from an arrow wound to the head, some modern historians believe it was more likely that he was cut down in battle.
A member of the Wuffingas dynasty, King Raedwald was an Anglo-Saxon King of East Anglia who reigned in the early part of the 7th century.
During his reign, Gipeswic (modern-day Ipswich) developed as an important trading centre.
Many historians believe Raedwald was buried in the famous Anglo-Saxon ship burial in Sutton Hoo, Suffolk.
Anglo-Saxon helmet found at Sutton Hoo
Edmund the Martyr
Edmund was King of East Anglia from 855 to 869.
Very little is known about Edmund’s life, but it is the legend surrounding his death that has made his name famous.
Edmund was killed by the invading Viking Great Heathen Army in 869. According to legend, Edmund was beaten, shot with arrows, and then beheaded because he refused to renounce Christ.
During the Middle Ages, Edmund was considered the patron saint of England (a title he shared with Edward the Confessor) until being replaced by Saint George.
Famous Anglo-Saxon Warriors
Most Anglo-Saxon kings were also skilled warriors in their own right and frequently led their troops into battle. Many of the famous kings listed above could also have been added to the list of names below, but here are some Anglo-Saxon warriors we have yet to mention.
Penda of Mercia
Penda was an Anglo-Saxon King of Mercia in the 7th century. He fought numerous battles during his lifetime and was killed in battle at the age of 48 or 49.
Penda joined forces with Cadwallon ap Cadfan, the King of Gwynedd to defeat Edwin of Northumbria in 633 at the Battle of Hatfield Chase. He went on to fight against the East Angles, killing both their king, Egric, and their former king, Sigbert.
In the Battle of Maserfield in 642, Penda defeated the Northumbrians. Following this victory, Penda fought against Oswiu of Bernicia. In 655 at the Battle of Winwaed (somewhere close to modern-day Leeds), Penda was defeated by the Oswiu’s forces. Penda was killed along with Aethelhere, an East Anglian king.
Penda is often described as the last of the great Anglo-Saxon pagan warrior-kings.
Edmund Ironside
The son of Aethelred the Unready, Edmund’s reign as King of the English only lasted from April 1016 to November 1016. In this time, however, he proved himself to be a true warrior king, taking on the Danish invading forces of Knut the Great.
Gathering an army in Wessex, Edmund fought battles against Knut in Penselwood (Somerset), Sherston (Wiltshire), London, Brentford, and Otford (Kent). Edmund was defeated by Knut in the Battle of Assandun (Essex). Following the conflict, in October 1016 a peace was negotiated in which Edmund received Wessex, and Knut received Mercia and Northumbria.
Edmund died in November 1016. He probably died of his battle wounds, but some historians have suggested that he was murdered. He was buried in Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset.
According to legend, Knut the Great visited Edmund’s tomb and decorated it with a cloth bearing peacock motifs as a mark of respect.
He was called Ironside because of his courage and valour in battle.
Odda
An ealdorman of Devon in the 9th century, Odda is best known for his role in the Battle of the Raven Banner (also known as the Battle of Cynwit) in 878. Odda chose to support Alfred the Great rather than join forces with the Guthrum, King of the Danish Vikings as other Anglo-Saxon leaders had done.
In Devon, Odda’s forces came up against the biking army of Ubba who was the brother of Ivar the Boneless, and son of the legendary Ragnar Lothbrok. Obba was victorious. Ubba’s raven standard was captured, and some accounts state that Odda himself killed Ubba in battle.
Eadric the Wild
Eadric was an Anglo-Saxon landholder in Shropshire and Herefordshire who rebelled against the Normans following their conquest in 1066.
According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Eadric refused to submit to William of Normandy and found himself under attack from Norman troops from Hereford Castle. Aided by warriors from Gwynedd and Powys, Eadric attacked Hereford Castle in 1067, and between 1069 and 1070, fought against the invaders in Shrewsbury.
He defeated the Normans at a battle in Stafford in 1069, but by 1072 Eadric was forced to submit to William.
He was possibly known as ‘the Wild’ because many of the Anglo-Saxon rebels rising up against William the Conqueror were known to hide out in the woods and marshes.
Famous Anglo-Saxon Writers and Poets
The Venerable Bede
An English Benedictine monk born around 673, Bede was a teacher, scholar, and author. He is often called the ‘The Father of English History’, and his most well-known work is the Ecclesiastical History of the English People.
He was a very skilled linguist and he translated many works of Latin and Greek. He also popularised the Anno Domini (AD) method of dating forward from the birth of Jesus.
His other written works included accounts of the lives of the abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow, verse and prose on the life of St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, and the Martyrology, a list of saints.
Aldhelm was born in about 639 and died in 709. During his life, he served as Abbot of Malmesbury and Bishop of Sherbourne, but he is probably best known for his studies and writings in Latin verse.
He is thought to be the first Anglo-Saxon to write in Latin verse, and he produced several important works of prose and poetry.
It is possible that Aldhem also wrote poetry in Old English and set his work to music. Apparently, his songs were still popular in the time of Alfred the Great, but, so far, none have been found to have survived to the present day.
Cynewulf
Cynewulf is known as one of the key Anglo-Saxon Christian poets.
Four poems have been attributed to Cynewulf – Juliana and Christ II (from the Exeter Book) and Elene and Fates of the Apostles (from the Vercelli Book). These poems use alliterative verse and draw upon the Latin source material.
Cynewulf demonstrated that he was the author of these poems by including his runic signature in the lines of the poems like a coded message.
Stephen of Ripon
Stephen of Ripon, an Anglo-Saxon priest, was the writer of the Life of Saint Wilfrid (Vita Sancti Wilfrithi), the only document that has been discovered about the life of Saint Wilfred apart from Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica.
Stephen’s work is structured as a chronological narrative, and unlike many other hagiographies (biographies of saints) from the Anglo-Saxon period, he includes lots of specific details, names, and events.
As a result, his Vita Sancti Wilfrithi is considered one of the first Anglo-Saxon works of history.
Alcuin of York
Born around 735, Alcuin was a poet, teacher, and clergyman in Anglo-Saxon Northumbria.
In the 780s, Charlemagne invited him to teach and study at the Carolingian court. He remained there until the 790s.
He wrote numerous theological and mathematical works, as well as poems and grammatical works. He is also associated with perfecting and preserving Carolingian minuscule, a readable.
He became the abbot of Tours (in modern-day France) in 796 and served in this role until his death in 804.
Hygeburg
An Anglo-Saxon nun and hagiographer (biographer of saints), Hygeburg is credited as being the first known woman from England to have completed a full-length literary work.
The two works attributed to her were called Hodoeporicon (a biography of Willibald), and Vita Wynnebald.
She lived and worked in the Alemannian monastery at Heidenheim (in modern-day Germany).
Famous Female Anglo-Saxons
Aethelflaed
Known as the Lady of the Mercians, Aethelflaed, Alfred the Great’s Eldest daughter, played a major role in fighting against the Viking invaders during the 890s and early part of the 10th century.
Following the death of her husband. Aethelred in 911, Aethelflaed became the ruler of Mercia, and together with her brother, King Edward, she extended Alfred’s network of forts and forced the Vikings to surrender in Derby, Leicester and York.
She died in 918 and was buried in St Oswald’s Minster in Gloucester.
Lady Wulfrun
Lady Wulfrun (sometimes referred to as Lady Wulfruna) was an influential Mercian noblewoman who lived during the 10th century.
In 985 King Aethelred II granted to Wulfrun by royal charter lands in what is now Staffordshire, referred to as Heatun (high place or high settlement). After her death, the settlement was referred to as Wolvrenehamptonia (Wolfrun’s Heaton) and evolved into the city of Wolverhampton.
A statue of Lady Wulfrun stands outside St Peter’s Church in Wolverhampton, the church Lady Wulfrun was said to have endowed in 994.
Lady Wulfrun had two sons, Wulfric Spot, who was a patron of Burton Abbey, and Aelfhelm, ealdorman of Northumbria. Her daughter was called Aelfthryth.
St Hilda
Born in about 614, Hilda decided to become a nun at the age of 33. She first attended a convent on the banks of the River Wear, then she moved on to become the second abbess of Hartlepool Abbey.
She became the founding abbess of Whitby Abbey, establishing a well-respected double monastery (where men and women lived separately but worshipped together).
In 664, King Oswiu of Northumberland opted to use Hilda’s monastery as the site of the first Church synod in his kingdom. The Synod of Whitby was attended by important churchmen from all over Britain.
In the last years of her life, before her death in 680 at the age of 66, Hilda established a monastery in Hackness (Scarborough, North Yorkshire). Apparently, as she took her last breaths, the bells of the monastery began to toll.
St Mildred
Also known as St Mildrith, St Mildred was an Anglo-Saxon abbess of the Abbey at Minster-in-Thanet in Kent. She was born in the 660s and died around 730.
Educated in the royal Merovingian Chelles Abbey (near Paris), she became abbess of Minster-in-Thanet in 694 and a hagiography was written about her in the 11th century by Goscelin.
Famous Anglo-Saxon Heroes
Hereward the Wake
Although many of the stories about Hereward the Wake’s life have likely been exaggerated and mixed with legend, most historians would agree that he was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman who led a rebellion against the Normans following their conquest in 1066.
It is said that he killed fifteen Normans who were responsible for taking his family’s lands and killing his brother. In 1070, he was part of the army that sacked Peterborough Cathedral and went on to establish a base on the Isle of Ely in Cambridgeshire.
Some accounts suggest that Hereward continued to harass the Normans as an outlaw living in the Fens, but others believe he went into exile or headed to Scotland.
Hengist and Horsa
Legend has it that Hengist and Horsa were brothers who led the Jutes, Angles, and Saxons during their 5th-century invasion of Britain.
Apparently, they arrived in Ebbsfleet (near Ramsgate in Kent) and fought as mercenaries for Vortigern, a warlord in Britain. After a while, they turned against Vortigern (an event often referred to as the Treachery of the Long Knives).
Horsa was killed, but Hengist survived and went on to found the Kingdom of Kent.
Beowulf
Beowulf is the main character in the Old English epic poem that bears his name.
In the poem, Beowulf, a warrior, and hero, comes to the aid of the Hrothgar, King of the Danes, by slaying a monster called Grendel and then defeating the monster’s mother.
Later in his life, Beowulf battles a dragon. He wins the fight but suffers mortal wounds.
According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Cerdic was the founder of Anglo-Saxon Wessex and its first king.
If the Chronicle can be believed, he reigned from 519 AD to 534 AD, having arrived in what is today the county of Hampshire in 495. He fought battles at Netely Marsh and Charford, and completed a conquest of the Isle of Wight.
Although the accounts in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of the early history of Wessex are contradictory and unlikely to be reliable, it is clear that all of the later kings of Wessex improved their claim to the throne by stating that they were Cerdic’s descendants.
Other Famous Anglo-Saxons
Dunstan
During his lifetime Dunstan served as Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury.
Dunstan was a skilled artist, illuminator, metalworker, and musician.
He was highly influential in Britian. As a young man, he was favourite of King Aethelstan. He went on to become a trusted adviser to Lady Aethelflaed, King Aethelstan’s niece. Following Aethelstan’s death in 940, his successor, Edmund, made Dunstan a minister.
Dunstan officiated the coronation of King Edgar in 973.
He died in 988 when he was in his late seventies. He was canonized in 1029 and went on to become the most popular saint in Britain for nearly two centuries.
Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne
Born around 634, Cuthbert was an Anglo-Saxon monk, bishop, and hermit in the Kingdom of Northumbria.
In 662 he became prior at Melrose, he attended the Synod of Whitby, and in 684, following many years living as a hermit, he was made bishop of Lindisfarne.
Cuthbert died in 687. He was buried at Lindisfarne, but his remains were removed to Durham to escape the invading Danes. In 698 he was reburied in Lindisfarne and he became one of the most popular saints in England until the 12th century.
Acca of Hexham
Acca was Bishop of Hexham (in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria) from 709 until 732.
He was friends with Bede, and Bede was a great admirer of the theological library Acca assembled during his lifetime. He also knew Stephen of Ripon and encouraged him to write the Life of Saint Wilfrid.
Acca was buried at Hexham following his death in the early 740s.
The only surviving writing of Acca’s is a letter he wrote to Bede.
Who was the most famous Anglo-Saxon?
It’s hard to look beyond Alfred the Great as a candidate for the most famous Anglo-Saxon. In terms of his military achievements and the legal, financial and educational reforms he pioneered, it would be difficult to argue that any other Anglo-Saxon did more than him to leave their mark on the pages of history.
However, if you were to ask a random person in modern-day England to name an Anglo-Saxon, many would answer with the name Harold. Because the Battle of Hastings is such an iconic conflict in English history (and it has been taught in English schools for centuries), the image from the Bayeux Tapestry of the Anglo-Saxon warrior with an arrow in his eye (whether it’s actually Harold or not) is indelibly seared into English minds. King Harold’s achievements don’t compare to Alfred’s, but he is well-known today because of his involvement in a famous battle, even if he was on the losing side.
