Archive reveals public enthusiasm for Anglo-Saxons

Arts 14 Oct 10 Submissions from the public have helped put together the world's largest online archive of material concerning the Anglo-Saxons, Oxford University academics have said. Project Woruldhord (Old English for 'world hoard'), which called on the public to submit Anglo-Saxon teaching material after being inspired by the level of interest surrounding the discovery of the Staffordshire Hoard, has received between three and four thousand objects since opening in July. The archive fittingly stops taking submissions today (Thursday 14 October), the date on which in 1066 the Battle of Hastings signalled the end of the Anglo-Saxon period. Highlights of the archive, which will be made available online for free, include previously unreleased pictures and X-rays of artefacts in the Staffordshire hoard and Sutton Hoo, Anglo-Saxon land charters including a forged land document, Oxford University exam papers in Old English from the 19th Century and a TV film on the Anglo-Saxons, '1065 and all that', which hasn't been seen for 44 years. The success of Project Woruldhord shows that the level of interest in the discovery of the Staffordshire hoard was not a one-off Dr Anna Caughey of the Faculty of English Language and Literature, who is the archive's research officer, said: 'The success of Project Woruldhord shows that the level of interest in the discovery of the Staffordshire hoard was not a one-off.