West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village and Country Park celebrates 50 years during annual Dragon Fest
Over 2,000 people attended this year's Dragon Fest over the weekend as the site celebrated a landmark.
As dragons roamed the West Stow Anglo-Saxon and Country Park village, near Bury St Edmunds, the event welcomed a group of Cambridge undergraduates who began reconstruction of the site five decades ago on June 25, 1973.
On the second day of the festival, Ian Alister and others from the original team, including Hugh Darrah, Kimberley Rew, Rosemary Boughton, Andy Wilson, Liz Pieksma and Martin Jones, joined the event.
Ian reflected: “We were a small but determined group of Cambridge undergraduates interested in experimental archaeology.
“We wanted to build an Anglo-Saxon 'grubenhaus' to see how it worked in practice rather than in theory.”
When the team first began reconstructions of the pit houses, they tried using tools and materials that would have been available to the Anglo-Saxons.
Some of the methods included coppicing ash and hazel to form rafters or using an entire cow carcass that was soaked in the River Lark, stripped and dried to create lashing to secure wooden joints.
Today the original oldest house still stands alongside seven other reconstructed buildings, including a farmer’s house, craft building, hall, workshop and weaving house.
Ian explained: “Some experts thought our design would blow down in the first easterly gale, but it's still standing fifty years on.
“It's great to see the way in which it has evolved into a flourishing project that is visited by pretty much every school child within a thirty-mile radius.”
The popular event held an array of dragon-themed activities and performances, including arts and crafts, viking tales, archery and face painting.
The festival is one of many events held at the Anglo-Saxon village, which helps to bring the history of the place back to life.
West Suffolk Council leader Cliff Waterman, who was at the festival, said: “The Anglo-Saxon village and the experiment this small team undertook all those years ago, is a key part of that tapestry of history and heritage that makes West Suffolk such a wonderful and attractive place to live and work.
“We are very thankful for their experiment which has helped bring history to life for all those who visit this amazing site.”
