Saxon Road SP2

The Saxons were a group of people who originated in what is now Germany. Some of the Saxons seem to have settled in Southern England from the 5th century onwards ¹ (who gave their name to England).

I’m uncertain about all of the terms used to describe the inhabitants of the British Isles between (and before) the Romans and the Normans. The uncertainty is likely due to my own ignorance, but I don’t know whether the various groups of people (Saxon, Angle, Celt, Brit or Viking) would have seen themselves as belonging to an identifiable group or nation, or whether this just reflects the 21st century view of the world.

I don’t know of any reason why Saxon Road in Harnham is particularly Saxon.

Update: In a small 1950s booklet published by the Harnham Women’s Institute I found a description of ‘The Harnham Hill Saxon Graves’, which were ‘roughly near the top of what is now called Saxon Road’. Clearly, Saxon Road is names after the Saxon graves.

Some accidental discoveries in the 1840s and 1850s of spear-heads, a skull, part of a shield and other artefacts led to the excavation of the site. The field was known as the Low Field – possibly derived from the Saxon hlaw, meaning burial mound.

The excavation, in autumn 1854 uncovered 67 skeletons and many artefacts. The landowner, Viscount Folkestone, presented all of the relics to the British Museum.²

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Footnotes

1. Saxons – LoveToKnow 1911 [↩]
2. The History of Harnham, by the Harnham Women’s Institute, probably published in 1954, by the Tisbury Printing Works Ltd, Rollestone Street, Salisbury [↩]