According to British cleric Gildas, in 449 Angle, Saxon and Jutish warriors were invited into Britain to help defend the population against raids from Picts, Irish and continental warbands. Following Roman collapse and withdrawal some thirty years earlier, Britain could no longer properly defend its borders. Led by Hengist and Horsa, this band of Germanic mercenaries liked Britain so much they decided to stay. Thus began the period of early-medieval settlement by peoples we’ve come to call the Anglo-Saxons.
There is no archaeological evidence for an Anglo-Saxon invasion, so it is assumed these migrants settled relatively peacefully, establishing control over time and ultimately carving England into mini-kingdoms. Those who settled in the area around York were Anglians, hailing from a district called Angulus, modern-day Angeln in eastern Schleswig. According to traditional genealogy, at some point in the c. 5th a certain Anglian King Soemil established his own break-away kingdom. It was called Deira, a British name, which perhaps suggests an Anglian tolerance of the status quo. Maybe one motivation for this was political. At least in the early years following Anglian settlement, York may have remained under nominal British control. Deira would have abutted this British province, known as Ebrauc, taking its name from Eboracum. Warlords from Deira and Ebrauc may have forged an alliance against incursions from Bernicia to the north. Only later did subsequent Deiran kings – possibly King Aelle in the late c. 6th – absorb Ebrauc into his own territories. Under Edwin in the c. 7th, Deira expanded to include the British kingdom of Elmet, still remembered in the names of the nearby villages Barwick-in-Elmet and Sherburn-in-Elmet.
The Anglians who did settle in York established communities to the east of the city, around Fishergate and Heslington; the decaying Roman fortress would likely have been hazardous and would certainly have offered poor opportunities for farming.
But York achieved ascendancy following the baptism of the Deiran king Edwin at a wooden minster church in the city, in 627. It became a wealthy centre of trade and learning and acquired an archbishopric; Alcuin described Eoferwic as a beautiful city with ‘high walls and lofty towers.’
Generally, very little is known about Eoferwic, even though it spanned a period probably greater than the Roman occupation – over 400 years. York was fully under Viking control for just 70 years, yet Jorvik is far more widely known and understood.
To find out more, pick a marker from the map above, or an item below, or just browse the list.
- York’s first MinsterYork’s first minster church was a small wooden affair, built during the reign of King ...
- York MinsterYork Minster is one of the greatest cathedrals in northern Europe, and part of a ...
- The ShamblesThe Shambles is known for the number of butchers that used to trade from it. ...
- St Sampson’s, Church StreetLocated in the heart of York, the building stands over part of the Roman city ...
- St Mary, Bishophill SeniorAll that remains of this church, demolished in the 1960s, is a community garden, which ...
- St Mary, Bishophill JuniorYork’s oldest church, it is situated within what was the colonia or civilian quarter of ...
- St Denys, WalmgateSet on a raised knoll above the current road level, the present building was founded in ...
- St Cuthbert, Peasholme GreenThe site of this church is one of the oldest foundations in York. A place ...
- Monk BarDating from the 14th century, this is the tallest and strongest of the four main ...
- Holy Trinity, MicklegateOn the site of a pre-conquest building, it includes remnants of a Benedictine priory church. ...
- Holy Trinity, King’s SquareKnown as Konungsgarthr or King’s Garth in the 10th century, some have suggested this small ...
- CoppergateCoppergate was a large urban archaeological excavation, conducted prior to the redevelopment of this part ...
- Bootham BarBootham is a continuation of Petergate outside the city walls. There has been a gateway ...
- BedernAn ancient lane, off Goodramgate, leading to Bedern Chapel and Hall and, via Bartle Garth, ...
- Anglian TowerThe so-called Anglian Tower, only excavated in 1969, is a small, square tower, built into ...
- Alma Sophia, Minster YardThe Anglo-Saxon scholar Alcuin describes how he and the then Archbishop of York – Eanbald ...
- All Saints, PavementA church has been located here since before the Norman Conquest. The minster church, according ...
- AldwarkAldwark is a street that gets its name from ‘Old earthwork’ or ‘old fortification’ and ...