After the Romans left Britain, ordinary British people did not keep up their reading and writing. Only priests, monks and nuns in the Church could write. The British spoke their own language similar to Welsh. The Scots spoke Gaelic. However, monks from both groups wrote in Latin. Latin was the old Roman language. The British borrowed a type of writing called Ogham from the Irish. They only used this for name tags and gravestones. Saxons who settled in Britain did not read or write books. They spoke a language similar to English and had a simple alphabet of letters called Runes. Runes were also only used for name tags and gravestones. When the Saxons became Christian, their monks and priests began to write books in Latin too. Only after several centuries did people begin to write  the same language that they spoke. There were no printing presses or photocopiers. So all books had to be written by hand. Something which is hand-written is sometimes called a 'manuscript'. These were often decorated with pretty pictures: especially the first letter on a page. The pictures were often painted in colourful inks and covered in real gold! This is called 'illumination'. Books and manuscripts were very valuable. They were only owned by Kings or Bishops or by the monks & nuns in monasteries. Famous British books include 'The Ruin & Conquest of Britain' by St. Gildas, 'The History of the Britons' by Nennius and the 'Welsh Annals'. Famous Saxon books include the 'Ecclesiastical History of the English People' by St. Bede and the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicles'. The 'Lichfield Gospel' (or the 'Book of Teilo') is a famous British illuminated manuscript. The 'Lindisfarne Gospel' is a famous Saxon illuminated manuscript. The 'Book of Kells' is a famous Scottish illuminated manuscript. Activity Sheets available.