Anglo-Saxon Wind Instruments

A brief overview and understanding of the wind instruments in Anglo-Saxon England is given here. 

Just like any other period, Anglo-Saxon England had many instruments, including percussion, string, and wind. This exhibition will focus on the wind instruments. The sounds of the wind instruments had different purposes whether for entertainment or religious and political reasons. Their sounds would have been heard through many parts of Anglo-Saxon society. All too often the past can be thought of in silence when in fact there were many different sounds making up the environment. This exhibition will take you on an exploration of the wind instruments of this period (bagpipes, hornpipes, bone pipes, organs and horns/trumpets). 

There is currently debate over the use of the term Anglo-Saxon. Here it is used to describe the cultural phenomenon of music and instruments between about the 5th-11th/12th century in a culturally diverse society rather than to describe a race. Music and the instruments did not change overnight with the Norman Conquest of 1066, and some of the instruments shown in this online exhibition will date to just after 1066. While the focus here is on instruments found in England during this period, these types of instruments were found in other areas of the world, and mentions are made where appropriate to other areas of the British Isles. Places such as Scotland are not generally included as this area was relatively separate from England during this period.

Can you think of any sounds which might have been around in Anglo-Saxon England? Are there any around today which might not have been present then?

The wind instruments of the Anglo-Saxon period can be largely divided into two categories: 

• Those for entertainment.

• Those for practical use, whether that was horns for signalling in battle and on the road, or the organ to demonstrate the religion of Christianity. 

These instruments shows a range of craftsmanship from those crudely made to intricate designs, decoration and feats of engineering being a part of the instruments. 

The wind instruments of Anglo-Saxon England are currently known to have included:

• Bagpipes

• Hornpipes

• Bone pipes and wooden panpipes

• Organ

• Horns (and possibly trumpet)

As the map shows these have been found across various parts of England. The lyres are included for comparison. The organs are only known from literary references, but all the other points on the map are archaeological finds, although with the horn mounts these might represent drinking horns or sounding horns.