Saxon warlord grave and HS2 discoveries headline major new Bucks Museum exhibition
A newly revealed Marlow warlord burial and extraordinary finds unearthed during HS2 construction lead a major exhibition at Discover Bucks Museum, bringing Anglo-Saxon life vividly into focus for families this Easter.
At Discover Bucks Museum in Aylesbury, The SAXONS: Three lives. Three burial sites. Three extraordinary stories gathers together, for the first time, objects dispersed across collections and excavation archives to tell a more intimate story of early medieval England.
Running from 28 March to 1 November 2026, the show draws on three burial sites that sketch out a world of hierarchy, conflict and everyday ritual. There is the princely grave at Taplow, long recognised for its high-status treasures; the newly spotlighted “warlord of Marlow”, a rare military burial that hints at regional power in the Thames Valley; and, most strikingly, the cemetery uncovered at Wendover during the construction of HS2, where 122 graves have yielded a cache of artefacts now on public display for the first time.
It is this last thread that gives the exhibition its contemporary urgency. The vast infrastructure project has, in the process of remaking the landscape, exposed a much older one beneath it. Archaeologists working along the route have uncovered traces of a Saxon settlement at Wendover, bringing to light objects that would otherwise have remained buried. Among them is a finely made urn incorporating Roman glass, possibly preserved as a family heirloom across generations.
The exhibition leans into storytelling rather than spectacle. Visitors move between the three sites guided by reconstructed figures, developed with re-enactment group Wulfheodenas, who act as interpreters of their own worlds. Burial assemblages are carefully staged to evoke their original contexts, giving a sense not just of how these people died, but how they lived. There is an emphasis on craft and continuity: gaming pieces carved from bone, intricate metalwork, and the mingling of Roman and Saxon materials that complicates any simple narrative of rupture.
There are lighter touches too. The involvement of Ubisoft, drawing on its work on the Assassin’s Creed series, adds a layer of visual interpretation aimed at younger audiences, without overwhelming the archaeology. Timed for the Easter holidays, the exhibition is clearly pitched as family-friendly, with an opening weekend programme of re-enactments, storytelling and hands-on activities.
What emerges is a portrait of a society both distant and recognisable. These are not anonymous “Anglo-Saxons” but individuals situated within families, belief systems and shifting political landscapes. The Marlow burial, in particular, suggests a figure whose authority was performed as much in death as in life, through the careful arrangement of objects that signalled status and allegiance.
The exhibition has been made possible through a network of support that reflects the collaborative nature of contemporary heritage work. Loans from the British Museum have been enabled by the Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund, while the HS2 Community and Environment Fund has supported the conservation and display of material from Wendover. Additional backing comes from the museum’s Friends and Patrons and from EKFB Construction.
Discover Bucks Museum itself, a short walk from Aylesbury station, has in recent years positioned itself as a regional hub for ambitious, accessible exhibitions.
The SAXONS: Three lives. Three burial sites. Three extraordinary stories
28 March – 1 November 2026
Discover Bucks Museum, Church Street, Aylesbury HP20 2QP
Opening times, tickets and booking: discoverbucksmuseum.org
Elena Leo is the Culture & Lifestyle Editor of Ikon London Magazine.
