Repton Resources

Reports and articles on Repton

The excavations by Martin Biddle and Birthe Kjolbye-Biddle are described in the following articles:

• Biddle, M. and B. Kjølbye-Biddle (2001): Repton and the'great heathen army', 873-4. In Vikings and the Danelaw: select papers from the proceedings of the thirteenth viking congress, Nottingham and York, 21-30 August 1997, edited by J. Graham-Campbell, pp. 45-96. Oxbow Books, Oxford.
• Biddle, M. and B. Kjølbye-Biddle (1992): Repton and the Vikings. Antiquity 66(250):36-51. 
• Biddle, M., B. Kjølbye-Biddle, J. P. Northover and H. Pagan (1986) A parcel of pennies from a mass burial associated with the Viking wintering at Repton in 873-4. M. Biddle et al,'Coins of the Anglo-Saxon period from Repton, Derbyshire', in MAS Blackburn (ed.), Anglo-Saxon Monetary History. Studies in Memory of Michael Dolley:111-123
• Biddle, M., B. Kjølbye-Biddle, J. P. Northover and H. Pagan (1986) A parcel of pennies from a mass burial associated with the Viking wintering at Repton in 873-4. M. Biddle et al,'Coins of the Anglo-Saxon period from Repton, Derbyshire', in MAS Blackburn (ed.), Anglo-Saxon Monetary History. Studies in Memory of Michael Dolley:111-123.
• Grierson, P., Y. Harvey, D. M. Metcalf and H. Pagan (1986): Other coins of the Anglo-Saxon period from Repton. M. Biddle et al,'Coins of the Anglo-Saxon period from Repton, Derbyshire', in MAS Blackburn (ed.), Anglo-Saxon Monetary History. Studies in Memory of Michael Dolley:124-132.
• Biddle, M. and B. Kjølbye-Biddle (1985): The Repton Stone. Anglo-Saxon England 14:233-292.

A detailed history of St Wystan's Church was published by Harold Taylor: 

• Taylor, H. (1989) St Wystan’s Church, Repton. A Guide and History. J. W. Simpson, Derby.

Preliminary isotope results (strontium and oxygen) from a small number of individuals from Repton were published in 2004 in the following article: 

• Budd, P., A. Millard, C. Chenery, S. Lucy and C. Roberts (2004) Investigating population movement by stable isotope analysis: a report from Britain. Antiquity 78(299):127-141.

Please note that the interpretation of the oxygen isotope results in this article are problematic; I will publish details of this in a future paper.

If you have some extra time on your hands, there is also a full study of toads and frogs from Repton here:

• Raxworthy, C. J., B. Kjølbye-Biddle and M. Biddle (1990) An archaeological study of frogs and toads from the eight to sixteenth century at Repton, Derbyshire. Herpetological Journal 1:504-509.

Older sources of relevance include the following: 

• Bigsby, R. (1854) Historical and Topographical Description of Repton, in the County of Derby: Comprising an Incidental View of Objects of Note in Its Vicinity. Woodfall. 
• Degg, S. (1727)  An Account of an Humane Skeleton of an Extraordinary Size, Found in a Repository at Repton in Derby-Shire, Together with Some Examples of Long Life, Communicated by Simon Degg, MD & FRS. Philosophical Transactions (1683-1775) 35:363-365. 
• Hipkins, F. C. (1899) Repton and its neighbourhood: A descriptive guide of the archaeology and of the district. A. J. Lawrence printer, Repton. 
• Vassall, H. (1924) Discovery of a Viking axe at Repton. The Antiquaries Journal 4(03):270-270.

Excavation reports 

The full excavation reports are yet to be published. Work is in progress on this, and they are to be published as three separate volumes. Volume 1 will detail the osteological analysis of all the human remains, which is being carried out by Dr. Bob Stoddart, a forensic pathologist from the University of Manchester. Volume 2 will describe the artefacts, featuring reports by a number of specialists, and Volume 3 will focus on the excavations.

The human remains

The human remains from Repton were donated to the National History Museum in London for curation, and are still held in their collections. 

The artefacts

All artefacts from the 1976-1988 excavations are kept by Derby Museum. The artefacts from the 2016 and future excavations will also be deposited with the museum after our team has finished their analyses.

Useful websites 

The following are websites I have found that hold useful and relatively accurate information about Repton and the Viking Great Army.

• The Repton Church website includes a timeline and history: http://www.reptonchurch.uk/
• Howard Williams' blog has a good article on Death and Memory at Repton: https://howardwilliamsblog.wordpress.com/2014/05/11/repton-death-and-memory-before-and-after-the-vikings/
• Steve Bivan's blog contains a relatively well referenced article about Repton: http://www.stevebivans.com/2014/07/07/bones-burials-viking-great-army-repton/

Related sites and articles

Heath Wood: The Scandinavian cremation cemetery at Heath Wood is thoroughly described in the following paper

• Richards, J. D., P. Beswick, J. Bond, M. Jecock, J. McKinley, S. Rowland and F. Worley (2004) Excavations at the viking barrow cemetery at Heath Wood, Ingleby, Derbyshire. The Antiquaries Journal 84:23-116.

Torksey: Updated information about the work carried out at Torksey, the site of the Viking Army Winter camp in 872-873 can be found in the following article:

• Hadley, D., J. Richards, G. Perry, D. Mahoney Swales, E. Craig-Atkins, S. Stein and A. Woods (2016) The Winter Camp of the Viking Great Army, AD 872–3, Torksey, Lincolnshire. Antiquaries Journal.