A pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon cemetery was unearthed in 1889 when the Lambourn Valley railway was built through East Shefford. Both male and female skeletons were found, with weapons and jewellery, though many artefacts were rapidly removed by collectors. Some items were bought by the British Museum and Ashmolean Museum. These coloured glass beads were retrieved during a more systematic excavation of the site in 1912 by Harold Peake. The finds are dated to the 5th to 6th centuries AD when new groups of people came to Britain from northern Europe.
Further information about the archaeological site is available on the HER: www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MWB4309&resourceID=1030
HER – The Historic Environment Record (HER) is a register of all known archaeological and historical sites in the unitary authority of West Berkshire.
Period: 410-1066
Place: Great Shefford
