After early experiences in archaeology and woodturning, I graduated from the University of East Anglia with a first in English Literature in 1983 and went on to research into the Old English epic of Beowulf. Supervised by Professor Michael Lapidge at the Dept of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, & Celtic at the University of Cambridge, I was awarded my Ph.D. in 1991.  

    I published my first book, The Origins of Beowulf and the pre-Viking Kingdom of East Anglia, in 1993 and my second book, The Reckoning of King Rædwald, in 2003. 

    Since 1986 I have been working as a free lance tutor in Wuffing and Early Medieval Studies (Old English Literature, Language, History, & Archaeology), running courses in and around East Anglia. I have also conducted  guided site-tours to Sutton Hoo, Rendlesham, and sites throughout eastern England (for a list click here). More recently I have been contributing to Radio and Television programmes, including Time Team (see further below).

    In 2002 I was a co-founder of Wuffing Education, and we have been running study-days at Sutton Hoo ever since. For our current programme, go to the Wuffing Education section of this website at www.wuffingeducation.co.uk

 

 

At the Opening of the National Trust's Visitors' Centre at Sutton Hoo, March 13th 2002

 

Here is a picture of me with Cambridge Antiquarian Society on Mound One at Sutton Hoo in May, 1999 (many thanks to Isabella Castle for the picture). 

      

Above:  on the right above: giving a ride to a pilgrim on my old BMW K75RT on the way to St Botolf's at Iken, July 2000 (thanks to Alan Lockwood for the picture). 

Courses

I have run courses or given lectures at the following places:
Abingdon, Aldeburgh, Little Baddow, Bawdsey, Bedford, Beccles, Belstead, Boxford, Bramford, Broadway, Bromeswell, Burton [Cheshire], Bury St Edmund's, Cambridge, Coddenham, Colchester, Debenham, Dillington [Somerset], Diss, Dunwich, Felixstowe, Finchingfield, Flixton, Framlingham, Hadleigh, Halesworth, Hargrave, Henley, Hoddesden, Holton, Horncastle, Ipswich, Kelvedon, Kersey, Knuston [Northamptonshire] Lavenham, Laxfield, Leiston, Long Melford, Lowestoft, Martlesham, Mildenhall, Needham Market, Norwich, Orford, Peasenhall, Rickinghall, Saxmundham, Snape, Southwold, Stradbroke, Stoke-by-Nayland, Stowmarket, South Elmham, Southend, Sutton Hoo, Thurston, Ufford, Urchfont, Walberswick, Wangford, Westleton, Woburn, Woodbridge, & Woolpit.

Presentations

My academic presentations include the following: the Oxford Sutton Hoo Research Conferences (1987, 1988); the Sutton Hoo Fiftieth Anniversary Conferences [Snape, Cornell, & York] (1989); King's College London Fontes Anglo-Saxonici (1993); Leeds International Medieval Congress (1994, 1997); Visiting Professorship, 3rd University of Rome (1996); Oxford Conference on the Anniversary of the Coming of St Augustine (1997); Sutton Hoo Society Conference (2002); NADFAS (2004, 2005, 2006).

Television and Radio

I have appeared in and/or contributed to the following programmes: 

Channel Four's AD1000 (31st Dec. 1999; repeated on Discovery Channel);  

BBC Radio 4’s Ruins (Nov.5th 2000);  

Anglia TV News feature on Sutton Hoo (April 19th 2001);  

BBC Radio 4 The Village (29th Sept. 2001);  

BBC Radio 4 Making History (30th Oct. 2001); 

Anglia TV News feature on St Edmund (20th Nov. 2001);  

BBC 2's Blood of the Vikings (27th Nov. 2001; revised repeat 9th Dec. 2002; also repeated on Discovery Channel); 

BBC Radio 4 The Long Search (27th June 2002);

BBC Radio 4 Making History (19th Nov. 2002); 

Monarchy (Channel 4, October 2004);

Time Team Special: The King of Bling (Channel 4, June 2005);

BBC Radio 4 The Anglo-Saxon Lyre (27th Sept. 2005);

Time Team (Sunday 26th Feb., 12th March, 26th March 2006; repeated on More4)

and yet more Time Team....

(1) "The Seventh-Century Royal House of East Anglia: A Genealogy", Saxon, 10 (1989), pp.6-7.
(2) "Beowulf and the East Anglian Royal Pedigree", The Age of Sutton Hoo, ed. M.O.H.Carver (Boydell, Woodbridge, 1992), pp.65-74.
(3) The Origins of Beowulf and the pre-Viking Kingdom of East Anglia (Brewer, Cambridge, 1993, 1994, 1999) - see my book-section for reviews.
(4) "The Sutton Hoo Society Trip to Northern Suffolk", Saxon, 19 (1993), pp.6-7.
(5) "Sutton Hoo and Beowulf", Saxon, 21 (1994), pp.1-3.
(6) "The Sutton Hoo Society Visit to East Anglia's South-Western Approaches", Saxon, 21 (1994), p.5.
(7) "Wes þu, Eadwin, hæl! (An Old English Salute to Edwin Gifford)", Saxon, 21 (1994), pp.4-5.
(8) "The Sutton Hoo Society Visit to Norfolk", Saxon, 23 (1995), pp.6-7.
(9) "The 1996 Sutton Hoo Society Visit to Thetford, Ely, and Bury St Edmunds", Saxon, 25 (1997), pp.5-6.
(10) "The Sutton Hoo Society Outing to Sutton Hoo and related sites in S.E.Suffolk", Saxon, 27 (1997), pp.6-7.
(11) "King Arthur: a military history (Review Article)" Newsletter of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology & History, 48 (1999), p.12.
(12) "AD 999" (with Paul Sieveking), Fortean Times, 129 (Dec. 1999), pp.40-44.
(13) "An Autumn Excursion to the Kingdom of the East Saxons", Saxon, 31 (1999), pp.2-3.
(14) "In Defence of the Wuffings: A Review of Martin Carver's Sutton Hoo: Burial Ground of Kings?" Newsletter of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology & History, 50 (2000), pp.10-11.
(15) The Reckoning of King Rædwald (Redbird 2003).

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