Anglo-Saxon Somerset

The county of Somerset cannot lay claim to have been an Anglo-Saxon kingdom like Kent or Sussex, but nevertheless it has a history as a distinct region which can be traced to the seventh century and there are hints of an earlier entity in the post-Roman period. Although the detail of this society is difficult to recover, there is no doubt that it was successful in maintaining its independence for over two centuries before it was over-run by the Anglo-Saxons from the east. On the edge of the...