Conny Waters - AncientPages.com - Archaeologists have discovered evidence suggesting that a house in England may be the site of a lost residence belonging to Harold, the last Anglo-Saxon King of England, as depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry.
This tapestry is an embroidered cloth nearly 70 meters long and 50 centimeters tall, illustrating the events leading up to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. The conquest was led by William, Duke of Normandy, who challenged Harold II for the English throne and culminated in the Battle of Hastings.
Left: Part of the Bayeux Tapestry. Credit: The Society of Antiquaries of London. Right: King Harold Godwinson. Credit: Georgemiller381 - CC BY-SA 4.0 - Image compilation: AncientPages.com
Through reinterpreting previous excavations and conducting new surveys, researchers from Newcastle University and their colleagues from the University of Exeter believe they have identified a power center associated with Harold Godwinson. He was killed during the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Bosham, located on West Sussex's coast, appears twice in this famous tapestry narrating William’s victory at Hastings. Earlier scenes show Bosham as where Harold enjoys a feast before departing for France and upon his return.
While it has been suggested that a current private home in Bosham village stands on this historical site, its exact location has never been definitively proven until now.
The team of archaeologists employed a variety of techniques to explore the early history of the property. These included conducting a geophysical survey of the surrounding area, evaluating standing remains, analyzing maps and records, and revisiting evidence from excavations performed in 2006 by West Sussex Archaeology.
The Bayeux Tapestry, showing King Harold riding to Bosham, where he attends church and feasts in a hall. Credit: The Society of Antiquaries of London.
Their research confirmed the presence of two previously unknown Medieval buildings: one incorporated into the current house and another in the garden. A significant clue suggesting even earlier origins for the site emerged from the 2006 excavations, which uncovered a latrine within a large timber structure. Over recent years, archaeologists have identified a pattern in England dating back to around the 10th century AD, when high-status residences began incorporating toilets.
The discovery of this latrine led researchers to conclude that this timber building was likely an elite residence and almost certainly part of Harold’s home depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry. This hall was just one element within a larger complex that also included a church, which still stands today.
Holy Trinity Church, Bosham, looking east. Credit: Newcastle University
"The realization that the 2006 excavations had found, in effect, an Anglo-Saxon en-suite confirmed to us that this house sits on the site of an elite residence pre-dating the Norman Conquest. Looking at this vital clue, alongside all our other evidence, it is beyond all reasonable doubt that we have here the location of Harold Godwinson’s private power center, the one famously depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry," Dr. Duncan Wright, Senior Lecturer in Medieval Archaeology at Newcastle University said in a press release.
"The Norman Conquest saw a new ruling class supplant an English aristocracy that has left little in the way of physical remains, which makes the discovery at Bosham hugely significant — we have found an Anglo-Saxon show-home," Professor Oliver Creighton of the University of Exeter, and Co-Investigator of the project, added.
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The research at Bosham was carried out as part of the wider Where Power Lies project, with a team drawn from Newcastle University and the University of Exeter, and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The project aims to explore the origins and early development of aristocratic centres like Bosham, assessing for the first time the archaeological evidence for these sites across the entirety of England.
The study was published in the journal Antiquity
Written by Conny Waters - AncientPages.com Staff Writer
