Anglo‐Saxonism and Victorian archaeology: William Wylie's Fairford Graves

William Wylie's Fairford Graves is prominent among a series of publications dating from the mid‐nineteenth century reporting the discovery of early medieval cemeteries and defining their national and racial significance for English history. This paper discusses interpretative themes in Wylie's text and images. It is argued that Fairford Graves was more than a set of descriptive observations upon the excavations and finds. The paper shows how Fairford Graves was a statement about Wylie's identity as well as the imagined Teutonic origins of the English. Seen in this light, the investigation, interpretation and publication of the early medieval burials from Fairford were active resources in a burgeoning Anglo‐Saxonist discourse in early Victorian society.