Part of the Staffordshire treasure
When I was seven years old, I learned in school about the Sutton Hoo treasure, which was found in 1939 in Suffolk under confusing circumstances complicated by impending war. It fired my imagination about history and turned me into someone who became an avid watcher of archaeological documentaries and Time Team.
So I find it exciting when objects that are many hundreds of years old see the light of day and add to our knowledge of who we are, where we have come from and how our future might develop.
The news that a large stash of Anglo-Saxon gold has been discovered in Staffordshire is of particular interest politically as well. It will be crucial where this treasure ends up.
We talk so much about the English identity – or lack of it – and how the Scottish, Welsh and Irish seem to be more at ease with theirs. That’s partly because obsessive left-wing academics and media force us every time we talk about “heritage” and “identity” to re-visit things like the Empire, crusades, religious persecution and any other historical self-flagellation they can think of.
But the true English identity is no better encapsulated than in beautiful pre-Norman Anglo-Saxon treasure and we should all be able to understand these people, their lives and how they became us – because if you are the English majority, they are you.
Don’t get me wrong – I support and encourage the cultural diversity of the nation along with the most impeccable Guardianista. It’s something I’ve grown up with. But if we are to preserve tolerance of this diversity we must also make the case for the English identity and the value of the Staffordshire treasure is not the amount it will fetch at auction but how it can be a positive aesthetic and tangible objectification of where England came from.
Let us hope then that it doesn’t end up in the US or Middle East but is bought by the nation for the purpose of strengthening the nation.
