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Drawings Anglo-Saxon burials at Sporle, Norfolk

Object number

LDSAL2020.38.178

Artist/Designer/Maker

Johnson, Goddard - Artist
Johnson, Goddard - Author

Production date

1814

Production place

Little Dunham

Material

Paper
Pen
Ink

Technique

Drawing
Writing (Processes)
Handwriting

Dimensions

Height: 340mm
Width: 367mm

References

Reference (free text)

Audrey Meaney, A Gazetteer of Early Anglo-Saxon Burial Sites (London: Allen & Unwin, 1964), pp. 181-2.

Reference (free text)

Charles Roach Smith, Collectanea Antiqua 7 vols. (London: J R Smith, 1848-1880), 2: 234-5. Illustration, fig. 2, pl. LVI.

Reference (free text)

John Yonge Akerman, Remains of Pagan Saxendom (London: John Russell Smith, 1855), pp. 69, 79. Illustrations, fig. 1, pl. XXXIV; fig. 1, pl. XL.

Reference (free text)

Memoirs Illustrative of the History and Antiquities of Norfolk and the City of Norwich, Communicated to the Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of Great Britiain and Ireland, Held at Norwich, July, 1847 (London: Archaeological Institute, 1851), p. xxx.
    The item is a letter, apparently hastily-written, by Goddard Johnson. It describes the barrows at Sporle, Norfolk, and the objects found in them when they were opened, which seems to have been a salvage operation. The letter includes two drawings. One of them shows the layout of the barrows. The other is an annotated diagram showing an excavated barrow in detail, and indicating the position of the skeletons, and the disposition of the objects. Objects in this drawing include an urn, brooches, and weapons. There are apparently two skeletons, one with iron weapons and 'iron caps' (perhaps shield bosses?), the other with jewellery such as buckles, brooches, and beads. A pottery bottle and an object which is either a brooch or a girdle hanger were lying a little apart.