The Romans left Britain finally in about 476 AD. Unfortunately the army went too, leaving it open season for anyone else who sought pastures new. In this case tribes from Northern Europe, the Angles, Saxons and Jutes began to settle in the East of the country, and gradually moved into the East Midlands.
We know they were here because they built a church on the hill at an unknown date, and called it St Werburgh’s. It was named after an anglo saxon princess born about 650 AD. The church would have looked nothing like it does today, probably would have been a wooden shelter with large stone cross. The cross has been dated as 7th to 8th Century and classified as Anglo Saxon and Danish. The church has been rebuilt several times in stone, and the remains of the cross now stands inside the porch of the church.
The area around here was known as Mercia, one of the three main Anglic kingdoms founded after the Romans, now generally known as the Midlands. It was a very warlike time, with different tribes fighting to obtain and retain land.
Dorothy Mellors 2024