The Anglo-Saxon era is a diverse period that stretches across just over 650 years. Those we call Anglo-Saxons were not homogenous nor were their experiences. In AD 410 the Roman legions leave and the first Anglo-Saxon raiders appear. These pagan warrior bands would come to terrorise Romano-British settlements until, inevitably, they began to settle  themselves. By the time of King Alfred 400 years later these settlements have developed into Christian kingdoms engaged in a battle for England with the Danes. By the end of the Anglo-Saxon period England, just prior to the Norman invasion, was established and prosperous with strong ties to other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in Germany and Denmark.

When investigating the period it is important therefore to select a particular focus within the whole. This is a chance to identify some of those ‘changes within and across periods’ and to  be aware that the characteristic features of life fluctuate and develop...