DRA Lecture: The Vikings in the South West

There is little doubt that seaborne warriors from Scandinavia penetrated the West Country in the later Anglo-Saxon period, since contemporary written accounts tell us so. They raided for silver, gold and slaves. They demanded ransoms and tribute and some of their leaders had political ambitions, and wanted power in England. Vikings were also traders, craftspeople and settlers who mingled with the existing population and became indistinguishable from them. Their cosmopolitan outlook and their far-flung contacts influenced art in stone and metal, and their language and culture were also highly influential. In this illustrated talk Derek Gore will discuss the evidence for their influence and activity in the South West.

Derek Gore is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Exeter, having retired from the Department of Archaeology in 2010. While there he specialised in teaching the Viking Age in the British Isles and Europe, and also taught many continuing education and distance learning classes over twenty-five years. He has written a number of articles about the Vikings, and contributed to an edited volume Danes in Wessex: The Scandinavian Impact on Southern England, c.800 – c.1100, published in 2015. 

Tickets £5 each

or £10 to attend both lectures remaining in 2019 

To purchase tickets please contact Abi Gray on 01548 830832 or office@dra.uk.net. 

Payment may be made in cash, by cheque payable to 'The Fenwick Charitable Trust', or by card over the telephone and using our online terminal. When requesting tickets via email, please include your name, your telephone number and the number of tickets you require. You will receive a unique link to the online payment terminal to submit your details.

All lectures are held in the lecture room of the DRA, in the grounds of Shilstone House near Modbury. The car park is accessible from 6:30pm, when doors open, and free refreshments are available in the exhibition gallery. There is ample free parking, and blue badge holders can pre-book a space near the building.An