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400 - The Roman fort on Huntcliff was just one of a string down the East coast of present day England,
indicating that for some time attacks had been made from across the North Sea. About this time Roman forces were withdrawn as Britain and other parts of the Roman Empire were invaded by peoples from Northern Europe. These new folk were illiterate and no reliable records exist as to exactly when and how they took over the land, which is called after them. The Venerable Bede wrote in 731:- "from the country of the Angles…..which is called Angulus, came…..all the Northumbrian race [that is those people who dwell north of the river Humber]" A district north east of Schleswig is still called Angeln and archaeology confirms that these new-comers into Britain had the same culture as southern Scandinavia and Germany. |
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Whether the native Romano-Celts were slaughtered, enslaved or absorbed by intermarriage is not known. The earliest evidence of Anglo-Saxons in this area is the cemetery found at Hob Hill It is one of the most northerly of Anglo-Saxon burial sites in England and contained mixed inhumations and cremations. It is presumed the people buried there were outlying settlers of the Anglo Saxon region called Deira and spent their lives in the Skelton area, possibly using Skelton beck as a water supply. The 49 burials, laid out in rows, contained articles, which date the site to the 5th/6th centuries. One body was buried in animal hide and another in a coffin. The dead were buried with their jewellery. |
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Beads of jet, amber, glass and paste were found along with brooches and buckles that fastened their clothing. Men were buried with their weapons; a throwing axe, knives and a spear ferrule were excavated. A pair of bronze tweezers were also found. 500AD - By this time the Anglo Saxon culture had become dominant and much of England was divided between several kingdoms, vying with each other for power. The Skelton area lay between Bernicia to the north and Deira to the south. 550 - Ida the Flamebearer, king of Bernicia, conquered the area South of the Tees. 604 - Athelfrith, the new king of Bernicia, married the daughter of the king of Diera and the area between the Tyne and the Humber was united as Northumbria.
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 Anglo Saxon church |
635 - Oswald, king of Northumbria, defeated Penda of Mercia, and assumed the title of "bretwalda", overking of
England. Oswald accepted Christianity which was spread to this area from the north by the Celtic monks of Iona and from the South by Roman missionaries. Monasteries were built in the north east, Lindisfarne and Jarrow, and eventually local churches. There was an Anglo/Viking church at Skelton, but exactly when it was built is unknown. A portion of stone tablet, assumed to be part of a sun dial from this building, was unearthed in the old churchyard and is now kept at All Saints Church in the High St. The small portion of text has never been translated. 663 - The Synod of Whitby decided the church would follow the Roman way of Christianity rather than the Celtic
800 - Up to this time Skelton was part of the kingdom of Northumbria. |