In 2003 to celebrate the museum’s 250th birthday various special events were held including a day of talks by Alan Bennett, Sandi Toksvig and other celebrities and some short tours by half a dozen of the Eye Openers – I did the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus and Celtic Britain. Four experts (J D Hill, Leslie Webster,… Read more »
In the mid-C7th Mercia rose to challenge Northumbria for supremacy but after a brief set back became the dominant kingdom in England for about a century from the early C8th to the early C9th under three remarkable kings, Ethelbald, Offa and Coenwulf. Offa is still well known today and nearly succeeded in making England a… Read more »
After the Romans left in the C5th AD Britain was slowly conquered by Germanic tribes dividing the country up into about a dozen small kingdoms. The strongest king was known as the Bretwalda or Britain Ruler. Was the man buried at Sutton Hoo one of them? We will examine what happened after the Romans left… Read more »