Upcoming Events
Discovering the Winfarthing Treasure
Thursday 10th September (doors open 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start)
Gissing Community Building
Join us to hear this talk by Dr Tom Lucking about his incredible discovery of the Winfarthing treasure, back in the winter of 2014-15 when he was still an archaeology student.
Tom's discovery of a large bronze bowl while metal detecting led to the excavation of the grave of a high status Anglo-Saxon woman dating from c.650AD. She had been buried with grave goods including incredible gold and garnet jewellery.
Tickets £3. Free tea/coffee/biscuits, cash bar available.
Heritage Open Days: Discover the Anglo-Saxons in Winfarthing
Visit Winfarthing church and use our new interactive kiosk to learn about the Winfarthing Woman, who was buried near the village in the 7th century with a rich collection of gold jewellery. There will also be hands-on craft activities with designermakers21 and Suffolk Artlink .
Make a day of it by visiting us in Winfarthing and designermakers21 in Diss for more Anglo-Saxon inspired activities.
Saturday 19th September, 10.00am-4.00pm
St Mary's Church, Winfarthing
Creative workshops at Designermakers21
Saturday 19th September, 10am-4pm
Designermakers21, St Nicholas Street, Diss
Take part in FREE creative sessions with designermakers21 members, inspired by the Winfarthing finds and Anglo-Saxon life. Workshops include Anglo-Saxon inspired bead making, create a stylized figure in clay, weaving using natural fibres, and mosaic making.
Talk: The Kingdom of the East Angles: An Overview
Thursday 1st October (doors open 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start)
Gissing Community Building
Join us to hear this talk by Dr Tim Pestell about the kingdom of the East Angles, and find out more about what the area around Winfarthing would have been like when the Winfarthing Woman was buried here.
Tim Pestell is Senior Curator of Archaeology at Norwich Castle Museum, and an expert on the Anglo-Saxon period. He oversaw the purchase of the Winfarthing pendant for Norfolk Museums Service, and carried out some excavations at Winfarthing.
Tickets £3. Free tea/coffee/biscuits, cash bar available.
Talk: The Wider World of the Winfarthing Woman: Anglo-Saxon Burial in East Anglia
Thursday 22nd October (doors open 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start)
Gissing Community Building
Join us to hear this talk by Joanna Caruth of Cotswold Archaeology. Jo will talk about Anglo-Saxon burial in East Anglia, helping us to understand how the cemetery at Winfarthing compares to other examples in the region.
Joanna Caruth is Principal Post-Excavation Manager at Cotswold Archaeology and has been involved in archaeological work in East Anglia for several decades. She has undertaken numerous excavations of Anglo-Saxon sites in the region, perhaps most notably the large Anglo-Saxon cemetery at RAF Lakenheath. Jo was part of the team that carried out excavations at Winfarthing with Time Team in 2023.
Tickets £3. Free tea/coffee/biscuits, cash bar available.
Quiz Night
Saturday 24th October, 7.00pm (doors open 6.30)
Gissing Community Building
Join us for a general knowledge quiz with teams of up to six people. More details coming soon.
Talk: Daily Life in Anglo-Saxon East Anglia
Thursday 12th November (doors open 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start)
Gissing Community Building
Join us to hear this illustrated talk by Stephanie Paull, a Heritage Officer based at West Stow Anglo-Saxon village and Anglo-Saxon reenactor.
Stephanie will explain how different daily life would have been at the time when the Winfarthing Woman was alive, and her talk will include discussions of Anglo-Saxon work, crafts and buildings.
Tickets £3. Free tea/coffee/biscuits, cash bar available.
Talk: Reading Winfarthing’s Historic Landscape
Thursday 3rd December (doors open 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start)
Gissing Community Building
Join us to hear this illustrated talk by Dr Richard Hoggett, a freelance heritage consultant, and landscape archaeologist.
Richard will explain the methods and techniques used to 'read' the historic landscape and reconstruct the countryside within which the Winfarthing Woman lived and died. Subjects covered include the use of historical mapping, place-name evidence and Lidar data, as well as looking at how metal-detected finds and archaeological excavations can inform our understanding of past landscapes.
Tickets £3. Free tea/coffee/biscuits, cash bar available.