Archaeologists find ‘lost’ site depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry

Archaeologists have uncovered evidence that a house in England is the site of a lost residence of Harold, the last Anglo-Saxon King of England, and shown in the Bayeux Tapestry.

By reinterpreting previous excavations and conducting new surveys, the team from Newcastle University, UK, together with colleagues from the University of Exeter, believe they have located a power centre belonging to Harold Godwinson, who was killed in the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Bosham, on the coast of West Sussex, is depicted twice in the Bayeux Tapestry, which famously narrates the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 when William, Duke of Normandy, challenged Harold for the throne. The Tapestry culminates in Williams’s victory at Hastings, but earlier in the artwork Bosham is shown as the place where Harold enjoys a feast in an extravagant hall before setting sail for France, and again on his return.

The location of Harold’s residence at Bosham has never been proved, although it has been suggested that a house in the village — now a private home — stands on the site.

Archaeological detective work

The team of archaeologists used a range of methods to unpick the early history of the property, including a geophysical survey of the surrounding area, assessment of standing remains, scrutiny of maps and records, and re-examination of evidence from excavations carried out in 2006 by West Sussex Archaeology.

This confirmed the existence of two previously unidentified Medieval buildings: one integrated into the current house and another in the garden. The crucial indication that the site had even earlier origins comes from the excavations in 2006, which identified a latrine within a large timber building. In the past decade or so archaeologists have begun to recognise a trend in England, beginning during the 10th century AD, for high-status houses to integrate toilets. The discovery of the latrine therefore indicated to the team that the timber building was of elite status, and almost certainly represents part of Harold’s residence illustrated on the Bayeux Tapestry. The hall was one part of a more extensive complex, that also included a church, which still survives.

The research, which is published in The Antiquaries Journal, was led by Dr Duncan Wright, Senior Lecturer in Medieval Archaeology at Newcastle University, who said: “The realisation 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 centre, the one famously depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry.”

Professor Oliver Creighton of the University of Exeter, and Co-Investigator of the project, added: “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.”

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.

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