Monastic studies usually focus upon the post-Conquest period; here, in valuable contrast, the focus is on pre-Conquest monastic foundations, in the present-day counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. Tim Pestell considers the place of the monastery in wider landscapes - topographical, social, economic and political. He observes that by 1215 the Diocese of Norwich contained about a tenth of all English monasteries, a remarkable richness of patronage was no sudden flush of enthusiasm, but a manifestation of religious devotion that had been evolving in East Anglia since the seventh-century Conversion....

The Snape Anglo-Saxon cemetery stands in the Sandlings area of east Suffolk. The first recorded excavations on the site were conducted in 18623 by the landowner, Septimus Davidson and some friends. In trenching the largest barrow they encountered rivets, and by careful excavation were able to reveal the remains of a complete Anglo-Saxon ship burial, the first to be found in England. Although already robbed, they recovered a number of items including a gold Germanic finger-ring, now in the British Museum, which showed that the burial had been of the highest status. Their excavations also...