Abstract
This paper presents the results of a multidisciplinary project that has revealed the location, extent and character of the winter camp of the Viking Great Army at Torksey, Lincolnshire, of ad 872–3. The camp lay within a naturally defended area of higher ground, partially surrounded by marshes and bordered by the River Trent on its western side. It is considerably larger than the Viking camp of 873–4 previously excavated at Repton, Derbyshire, and lacks the earthwork defences identified there. Several thousand individuals overwintered in the camp, including warriors, craftworkers and merchants. An exceptionally large and rich metalwork assemblage was deposited during the Great Army’s overwintering, and metal processing and trading was undertaken. There is no evidence for a pre-existing Anglo-Saxon trading site here; the site appears to have been chosen for its strategic location and its access to resources. In the wake of the overwintering, Torksey developed as an important Anglo-Saxon borough with a major wheel-thrown pottery industry and multiple churches and cemeteries. The Torksey evidence allows for a radical reappraisal of the character of Viking winter camps, and the legacy of the Viking Great Army for Anglo-Saxon England.
Highlights
From AD 865 to 879 a Viking army wreaked havoc on the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, leading to political conquest, settlement on a substantial scale and extensive Scandinavian cultural and linguistic influence in eastern and northern England. This critical period for English history was followed by revolutionary changes in land ownership, society and economy, including the growth of towns and industry, while transformations in power politics would see the rise of Wessex as the pre-eminent kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England
This paper provides a fresh perspective on the Viking Great Army and its impact on Anglo-Saxon England, based on new tightly dated and contextualised evidence from Torksey
The sheer quantity and value of the metalwork assemblage forces a radical reappraisal of the scale of wealth amassed by the Viking Great Army
Summary
From AD 865 to 879 a Viking army wreaked havoc on the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, leading to political conquest, settlement on a substantial scale and extensive Scandinavian cultural and linguistic influence in eastern and northern England. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that the Great Army landed in East Anglia in 865.3 This was larger than any previous Viking force and it became a constant threat, as it stayed in England through the winter. Excavations and geophysical survey by Martin Biddle and Birthe Kjølbye-Biddle at Repton (1974–93) identified a substantial ditch, some 4m deep, which formed a relatively small D-shaped enclosure, c 0.4ha in size.17 This did nothing to challenge the view that Viking armies can only have been numbered in the hundreds..
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