Following the Romano-British period, the Blackbourn valley began to be settled during the fifth century by Anglian, Saxon and Frisian colonists, who favoured the lighter soils of north-west Suffolk. It is probably from one of these settlers that Bardwell village takes its name, which is thought to mean 'the spring or stream of a man called Bearda'. Archaeological finds in Bardwell for the period are sparse, consisting of items of jewellery, and a few scattered coins, one of which was a memorial coin of St. Edmund, found on Bowbeck Heath in about 1850. St.Edmund died in 869, and memorial coins were being struck within living memory of his death, so this coin must date from the late ninth century. Much of what we can conclude about Anglo-Saxon Bardwell must therefore be inferred from a more general picture.

Thee first inhabitant of Bardwell whom we can identify by name,  Bearda, with his family and followers, would have lived in a timber-framed hall, with barns, workshops and storage buildings, similar to the reconstructed buildings which can be seen at West Stow. They would have been largely self-sufficient as farmers. and would have grown wheat, barley and rye, and kept a range of livestock, using the heath at Bowbeck for grazing, as people were to do for centuries. It is not possible, at present, to identify the site of the first settlement, and indeed this may have shifted over time, as buildings fell into disrepair and were rebuilt in a different position.

By the seventh century, the pattern of towns and villages in Suffolk as we know it today was beginning to take shape. Christianity was re-introduced in East Anglia at this time, and it may be that the earliest Bardwell church was built during this period. This would probably have been a wooden building, with a thatched roof, and although we are not able to say whether it was on the site of the present church or not, this does seem likely. Many early churches were built on a place that already had some sacred significance for the local people, to facilitate the acceptance of the new religion. However, any date for the earliest church building can be no more than speculation, as the only documented fact we have is that the church was already in existence at the time of the Norman Conquest.

Researched and kindly provided for this web site by Ruth Stokes