There is hope yet

Those of you that have read the post below will know that this blogger has been lucky enough to spend a week in Suffolk recently.

It was just north of Bury St. Edmunds (see post below) that you will find West Stow, home to one of the most remarkable places I have ever been.

The picture on the left here is what it's all about. West Stow was once an Anglo-Saxon village. Archaeologists have been continually excavating the site since 1965, and their discoveries changed how the Anglo-Saxons are perceived (see below).

Since then the Anglo-Saxon buildings have been re-built on the exact places they were excavated. There is a museam hosting all the items found in the village, which is regularly visited by schools and members of the public alike.

Walking around those buildings- with their log fires smouldering, allows you to feel as if you were back in 500AD in a real Anglo-Saxon village. It was remarkable.

Best of all was the museum, which explained that Anglo-Saxons had always been thought of as murderous, brutal savages. Until, that is, excavations like this which proved that, through their pottery, jewellery and artwork, the Anglo-Saxons were cultured and sophisticated people.

The museum told the story of Anglo-Saxon England- ending with this board:


"Norman propaganda denigrated Anglo-Saxon culture and only recently has this been challenged".

All those school children and parents and teachers will read it.

The denigration of Anglo-Saxon culture continues to this day- it's why we can't celebrate our national day or say we're proud to be English without some looney using the word "racist". But this is being challenged. Our cultural ancestors were intelligent, sophisticated people that laid the foundations for what has become one of the finest nations in the world- England.

When you visit places like West Stow, you know that there is hope yet for our young people and for England.

Suffolk

Over the last week Mrs. CEP Oxfordshire and I have been in the fine old English county of Suffolk. Steeped in English history, it was rather nice to go to places such as Southwold, and visit churches dedicated to St. Edmund the Martyr, last Anglo-Saxon king of East Anglia.

Edmund was defeated in battle by the Danes in 869 and, on capture, was ordered to renounce his Christian faith. Being English he would have none of it- it would take more than a slow and painful death to get him to disown his beliefs! The Danes were furious, and so tied him to a tree and executed him. This is thought to have taken place at Hoxne in Suffolk. The Danes hid Edmund's head in the woods so as to prevent his followers finding it and giving him a Christian burial. A wicked thing to do in the very real sense of the word.

However, Edmund's followers returned to look for their fallen king. On searching the woods, a voice called out to them. "Here, here!". Edmund's people followed the calls until they found a wolf- craddling Edmund's head as if it were one of its cubs. When they took Edmund's head from the wild animal and brought it out of the woods, the animal followed them until it knew Edmund was to be laid to rest- and then disappeared back into the woods.

Edmund's holy remains were taken to what is now Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk. A huge Abbey and cathedral were built to honour him, which became one of the most famous pilgrimage sites of the times- the remains of the Abbey stand to this day. However, when the Abbey was disestablished in 1539, the Abbey was stripped of all its valuables. Edmund's holy remains were lost and have still not been found to this day.

Edmund's feast day is 20 November. Last year there was a campaign to have him restored as patron saint of England. Despite how highly I regard St. Edmund- I wouldn't change our St. George for anyone.