The Friends of St Peter's Church

Wednesday, 15th July, 7.30 pm

Our next Free Zoom talk is with Dr Claire Finn of Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA), who will provide an update and further discoveries relating to the Harpole Bed Burial. Named after the nearby village of Harpole, Northamptonshire, it was first discovered in 2022 during archaeological works ahead of a housing development. It is believed to be one of the most significant early-medieval female burials ever uncovered in Britain.

Free Tickets from TicketSource https://www.ticketsource.com/fostp

We were delighted to have Dr Toby Purser (University of Northampton) take us to the Viking invasion of England.

You can watch a recording of the talk here.

Toby Purser is the author of a recent book ‘‘The Making of England: From Rome to Reformation”.

The talk centred on  Alfred and Guthrum because Guthrum is the leader of the great army that wintered in England and defeated the other kingdoms. Alfred defeats him at Edington in 878 and brings him to the treaty of Welre, which creates the Danelaw. Guthrum is christened Aethelstan. Alfred’s victory and subsequent defence of Wessex left a strong legacy for his children and grandson Aethelstan to conquer the Danish territories and create the new kingdom of England c. 927.
No Guthrum, no Alfred, no Alfred, no England….