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Histories of Northamptonshire
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Wakerley brooch

Saxon 500 - 700 CE Roman and Early Medieval

Excavated from a burial in an Anglo-Saxon cemetery, this square headed brooch is unusual in being marked with a runic inscription on the back.

Anglo-Saxon square-headed brooch with runic name inscribed on rear. © NMAG
Anglo-Saxon square-headed brooch with runic name inscribed on rear.
Rear of the Wakerley brooch showing the scratched runes, possibly a female name © NMAG
Rear of the Wakerley brooch showing the scratched runes, possibly a female name

This beautifully decorated Anglo-Saxon brooch dating from between 500 CE and 700 CE was found during an archaeological dig in Wakerley, North Northamptonshire. The dig in an Anglo-Saxon cemetery between 1968 and 1969 unearthed 85 burials in 72 graves. An abundance of other grave goods were found, including 70 brooches, a drinking horn, pottery bowls and jars, rings, beads and coins.

What is particularly unusual about this brooch is the short, runic inscription lightly scratched on its back recording the word ‘Buhui’. Recently it has been interpreted as a female name, possibly abbreviated, which may have been the name of its owner who was buried with it.

Similar personal and place name elements do occur in Anglo-Saxon contexts, but these similarities do not definitively mean that the inscription is a name or even a proper word. The Anglo-Saxons loved brooches, which were known as dalc or spennels. They were mainly worn by women as pairs to fasten dresses or single brooches to fasten cloaks. They were usually made of bronze (copper alloy) but could be made of iron and decorated with gold and silver. There were many shapes and styles of Anglo-Saxon brooches, including the saucer, applied saucer, button, annular (circular ring form), penannular (incomplete ring), and the quoit (double ring, one of each of the previous types) brooches. This one is a square-headed brooch which typically has a rectangular head.

Number 31 of the objects selected for the A History of Northamptonshire in 100 Objects exhibition 2025.

Wakerley
Contributed by NMAG
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