Anglo-Saxon Settlement and Farming

1. Angles, Saxons and Jutes invaded Britain from Germany, Denmark and Holland in the fifth and sixth centuries.

2. They came from Germany, Holland and Denmark in wooden boats, looking for places to settle and farm.

3. They took control of most of Britain, but not Scotland, Cornwall or Wales.

4. They divided the country into kingdoms, each with their own kings.

5. Anglo-Saxons made small settlements, usually consisting of three or four family farms.

6. The Anglo-Saxon settlements were built near food, water and fuel.

7. Anglo-Saxons lived in timber buildings with sloping thatched roofs.

8. The poorest Anglo-Saxon homes were round or rectangular huts, although the rich built elaborate halls.

9. Anglo-Saxon homes had one room where everyone ate, cooked, slept and entertained.

10. Anglo-Saxon homes had central fires used for heat and cooking, with a smoke hole in the roof.

11. Anglo-Saxon homes were lit by candles or pottery lamps using animal fat as fuel.

12. The Anglo-Saxons had little furniture and often shared homes with their animals.

13. The Anglo-Saxon name for town was burh.

14. This still appears in place names in Britain such as Peterborough and Loughborough.

15. Ford, or river crossing, was a Saxon name, like Stamford and Oxford, others include, ing, ham, ton and ley.

16. Anglo-Saxon men hunted, farmed and fought, made household and farm equipment from pottery, wood and metal.

17. Anglo-Saxon farmers grew wheat and rye for bread, barley for brewing, oats for animal food and porridge.

18. They also grew vegetables such as carrots, parsnips, cabbages, peas, beans and lentils.

19. They and kept animals such as pigs, cows, sheep and chickens.

20. The Anglo-Saxons divided fields into long strips which they shared so all would get a share of good and bad land.

21. They ploughed their strips with wheeled ploughs pulled by oxen - these were hard to turn so the strips were helpful.

22. Not many Anglo-Saxon settlements survived because they were made of wood and burned and destroyed in warfare.

23. The only buildings the Anglo-Saxons made of stone were monasteries and churches.