South folk of the East Angles 410 - 1066
As the rule of Rome in Britain finally collapsed in the early 5th century, Anglian settlers from around Holland and the Jutland Peninsula migrated into the region, bringing with them a new culture. Beliefs, language, art, the economy, all developed and adapted once more. At West Stow, 7 miles from Moyse's Hall Museum, an Anglo-Saxon village of this period has been excavated and reconstructed; today one can walk amongst those buildings as they may have looked 1500 years ago, while at the museum on site some of the thousands of finds from the village and nearby cemetery are displayed.
Christianity was re-introduced into England and from the 7th century onward it spread rapidly. A monastery was founded at Bedricesworth, then just a small settlement in West Suffolk. So it might have remained but for a crucial accident of history. In 869 Edmund, King of the East Angles, was killed fighting the Danes at the battle of Haeglisdun (probably Hellesden, Bradfield St Clare). Edmund became a martyr of the Christian faith; for many years, until the 14th century, the patron saint of England. His remains were brought to the abbey at Bedricesworth; Bedricesworth became Bury St Edmunds,the 'burh' or town of St Edmund,a centre of pilgrimage throughout the medieval period. The pilgrims brought immense wealth and importance to the abbey and town alike. Bury St Edmunds was on its way. Today this story is told at Moyse's Hall. Many finds from the abbey and objects which reflect the symbolic significance of the Edmund tradition for Bury St Edmunds can be seen in the West Gallery.
