The main sources for Anglo-Saxon history are generally divided into three major categories: written documents,archaeology, and linguistic evidence (place-names and Old English texts).

📜 Written Sources

Written sources provide direct narrative and administrative accounts, though they are often biased by the author's background (usually monastic).

• The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: This is a collection of annals (year-by-year records) compiled in various monasteries across England, beginning in the reign of King Alfred the Great (871-899). It is the single most important narrative source for the early history of England, providing a chronological framework of political and military events up to the mid-12th century.

• Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People): Completed in 731 by the Venerable Bede, a monk from Northumbria, this work is crucial for the early Anglo-Saxon period (5th to early 8th centuries). While its primary focus is the spread of Christianity, it contains invaluable secular information about the kingdoms, kings' genealogies, and the initial settlement of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes.

• Early British Accounts:

  • De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae (On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain) by Gildas (c. 540): A deeply religious lament and sermon which is a highly rhetorical, but contemporary, source for the immediate post-Roman and early Anglo-Saxon period.

  • Historia Brittonum (History of the Britons) by Nennius (c. 828): A compilation that includes Welsh traditions and is significant as a source for the King Arthur legends.

• Laws and Charters: Legal codes, such as those issued by kings like Æthelberht of Kent and Alfred the Great,provide insight into Anglo-Saxon society, justice, and the economy. Charters (legal documents recording grants of land) are vital for understanding land tenure, administration, and royal power.

• Hagiography and Letters: Saints' Lives (biographies like the Life of St Cuthbert or Life of St Wilfrid) and correspondence (like that of Boniface or Alcuin) offer glimpses into the religious, social, and political life of the time.

🏺 Archaeological Evidence

Archaeology is essential for reconstructing the material culture, settlement patterns, and beliefs of a period with limited written records, especially the early phase (5th-7th centuries).

• Burial Sites and Cemeteries: Pagan burial sites, particularly the magnificent Sutton Hoo ship-burial in Suffolk,have yielded extraordinary finds like the famous helmet, offering unparalleled insight into royal wealth,international connections, and early Anglo-Saxon beliefs. Sites like Spong Hill and Snape provide large-scale data on early settlement populations and burial rites (inhumation and cremation).

• Settlements and Burhs: Excavations of settlements like West Stow (an early Anglo-Saxon village) show domestic life, while the study of burhs (fortified towns built primarily by Alfred the Great) reveals developments in military strategy, urbanisation, and administration in the later period.

• Artifacts and Hoards: Objects like the Alfred Jewel or the Staffordshire Hoard (the largest collection of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork ever found) demonstrate the advanced artistry, craftsmanship, and wealth of the Anglo-Saxon elite.

• Religious and Military Structures: The remains of early timber and stone churches (like those at Brixworth or Deerhurst) and large defensive earthworks (like Offa's Dyke or the Wansdyke) tell us about the Christianisation process and inter-kingdom boundaries and conflict.

🗣️ Linguistic and Literary Sources

• Old English Literature: Epic poetry, most notably Beowulf, offers insights into the values, heroic code, and mythology of the Anglo-Saxons, even if the poem was written down in a later Christian context. Other works include riddles, poems, and prose translations.

• Place-names: The names of towns and geographical features, derived from Old English (like names ending in -tun (farmstead), -ham (village/manor), or -ing (people of)), can reveal the extent of the Anglo-Saxon settlement and the local topography as perceived by them.

• Coinage (Numismatics): Anglo-Saxon coins (pennies/sceattas) not only chart economic history but also contain the names of kings, bishops, and mint-masters, providing political and administrative information.

Saxon graves have been found in and around Bognor Regis, notably the discovery of a small cemetery in North Bersted and findings near Pagham Church. 

North Bersted Saxon Graves

In 2008 and 2009, a small Anglo-Saxon cemetery was discovered on a building site in North Bersted, near Bognor Regis. 

• Key Findings: The graves included the remains of both a male and a female. The male burial contained a spear and shield, while the female burial included an unusual bronze bowl, gilded brooches, and silver belt decorations.

• Significance: The finds were considered ornate and of high quality, suggesting the individuals were important local people.

• "Mystery Warrior": The site is also famous for the discovery of the "Mystery Warrior," an elaborate Iron Age burial of a possible Gallic resistance fighter, found during the same period of archaeological work.

• Current Location: After analysis, it was hoped that the remains and relics from the Saxon graves would go on public display at the Barbican House Museum in Lewes. The "Mystery Warrior" artefacts are displayed at The Novium Museum in Chichester. 

Pagham Church

Fragments of a Saxon burial urn were found in the churchyard of St Thomas à Becket's Church in Pagham (a village near Bognor Regis) in the 1950s. This urn was restored by the British Museum and is displayed in a case within the church's south aisle. The church itself was originally founded by Saxons in the 7th century AD. 

Other Nearby Discoveries

• Highdown: Highdown, near Worthing, is the site of the county's most significant Saxon cemetery, with finds from the 19th century forming important collections at Worthing Museum.

• Chichester: A large Anglo-Saxon burial ground containing hundreds of graves was also unearthed near Chichester, a short distance from Bognor Regis. 

These discoveries indicate that the Bognor Regis area was a significant centre of Saxon activity and burial.