Project 39: The Saxons

To accompany the previous week's project of The Vikings, we looked at the Saxons. Unsurprisingly there is a lot of overlap between the projects, and many of the books we used were the same: History of Britain: the Saxons & Vikings, Great Stories of British History, and Horrible Histories: Smashing Saxons. We also looked up what was happening in the local area in local history books, and overlaid an old map of the area showing a Saxon burial ground with a modern map, showing that there was a Saxon burial ground at the end of our road!

Saxon burial ground at the end of our road

BBC Bitesize have a wide range of guides on the Saxons, about their culture and kings, and Solomon enjoys the fact that they are more interactive than the usual videos and books. 

We haven't really had many project-based trips in recent weeks, so it was good to have two for the Saxons. Firstly, we had a day trip to London, to visit the British Library and the British Museum, and then we went to the Peterborough Heritage Festival. 

We ostensibly went to the British Library to look at the sorts of manuscripts the Saxon monks would have been working on, but the treasures gallery is full of interesting items and objects, from Ada Lovelace's 'first computer program', Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks, to Beatles lyrics. Like all small children Solomon enjoyed the interactive elements - the touchscreens and audio recordings - as much as the objects. He particularly enjoyed the recording of Beowulf and Alan Bennett's recording of Alice in Wonderland. 

We went to the British Museum to see the Sutton Hoo collection, and other items from the Saxon period. We last went to the British Museum as part of the project on Ancient Egypt, but with so much to see there, it's always good to focus on a specific collection. 

Hoo's on first?

The Peterborough Heritage Festival covers a wide range of historical periods, from Romans to World War 2 with a bit of Steam Punk thrown in on top. Solomon enjoyed the vikings, and even had a giant game of Nine Men's Morris (introduced in the Board Games project). 

Nine Men's Morris

Saxon Viking Camp

Next week's project: Cartoons