Held in Winchester Cathedral are several ornate chests, said to contain the venerated bones of early kings of Wessex and England, dating from the seventh to the 12th centuries. But what can these boxes reveal about attitudes to death and the politics in the Anglo-Saxon period? Cat Jarman explains all to David Musgrove.

Advertisement

Cat Jarman is the author of The Bone Chests: Unlocking the secrets of the Anglo-Saxons (William Collins, 2023)

Advertisement

Authors

Dr David MusgroveContent director, HistoryExtra.com

David Musgrove is content director of the HistoryExtra.com website and podcast, plus its sister print magazines BBC History Magazine and BBC History Revealed. He has a PhD in medieval landscape archaeology and is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Get exclusive access to Ruth Goodman’s six-week Academy course on Victorian Life, featuring two live Q&As + a book of your choice when you subscribe to BBC History Magazine

Subscribe now
Advertisement