Archaeologists may have discovered remains of a hall which belonged to the last Anglo-Saxon King of England.
Harold Godwinson’s death at the hands of Norman conquerors at the Battle of Hastings brought the end of 400 years of Anglo-Saxon rule and ushered in a new dynasty that transformed the British Isles.
The battle was immortalised in the Bayeux Tapestry and many of the traces of the previous rulers were removed by William the Conqueror and his allies in a bloodthirsty campaign to consolidate his power over his new subjects.
But now archaeologists believe they have discovered a rare sign of Godwinson’s vast wealth in the form of a large hall and a hoard of jewellery on land which was owned by the Anglo-Saxon King.
The team, co-led by University of York lecturer Dr Jim Leary, also found evidence of a malthouse and a sunken tower, indicating the site could have held wealth and influence fit for royalty.
The dig has taken place over the last two years near Skipsea Castle in East Riding of Yorkshire, a motte-and-bailey castle built on an ancient lake by the Normans in around 1086.
The castle’s structure no longer exists, but the name has been given to the mound where it once stood.
Dr Leary and a team of excavators from the university are taking part in a six-year project to unearth the history of the site.
Excavators from the University of York have uncovered a large medieval timber hall
Students from the University of York pictured excavating a timber hall found near Skipsea Castle
The dig is featured in the new series of BBC show Digging for Britain, which is set to be released in January.
Excavators made their first discovery when they found the remains of a building with a large tandoori-style oven, which had coloured the surrounding earth red from its heat.
Charred seeds found nearby indicated that the oven was part of a malthouse, where beer would have been made.
Dr Leary said the original floor of the building had survived and they believe the malthouse dates back to a period between the years 750 and 850.
The evidence continued when the team unearthed the base of a tower which had sunk into the ground.
The sunken tower was found alongside postholes and a cellar.
Mr Leary told The Mail: ‘The tower is an indicator of a high-status site, the Malthouse is also an indicator of high-status. It is not the sort of thing that is normally found. This tells us that it is probably a lordly centre.
‘We know that the land was owned by Harold Godwinson, but we don’t know that he ever visited it.
‘The tower may relate to Godwinson, as he did have a similar tower in Bosham in Sussex. We know he had it because it was depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry.’
Harold Godwinson was the last Anglo-Saxon King of England after being defeated by William the Conqueror in 1066
The Battle of Hastings, where Harold Godwinson was defeated by Norman Conquerors, is depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry (pictured)
The team also found evidence of a large timber hall that was built on top of the malthouse which came before it.
The medieval hall is likely to have been a cultural centre for politics, poetry and great feasts.
While the team has been unable to date the hall, Dr Leary said it was another indicator of an area of high status.
Excavators also found a piece of worked amber was being prepared for jewellery.
Dr Leary said this was the ‘standout find’ of the dig, as it confirmed their theory that the site was a place where luxuries were enjoyed by wealthy individuals.
After William the Conqueror took the throne in England, he ordered the creation of the first national survey, the Domesday Book.
The book detailed the land which had been owned by Godwinson and which was now owned by the new king.
It included the area around Skipsea, where these newest discoveries have been made, suggesting the great hall may have belonged to the King.
Students pictured excavating a Saxon oven which indicated the remains of a malthouse
A digger pictured beginning the excavations in front of Skipsea Castle, which is now just a mound
The area remained influential, with the Norman castle itself thought to have been built just 20 years later.
‘It does indicate high-status sites, and the fact that he [Godwinson] owned it, you know, all of these things sort of link up
While the discovery has been identified to have existed in the right place and time to have been owned by the last Anglo-Saxon King, there is no concrete proof that Godwinson had visited or owned the site.
He also suggested that the site may be the lordly centre of the settlement of Cleeton which was mentioned in the Domesday Book records but was subsequently thought to have been lost.
The dig will continue next year, when Dr Leary alongside his co-director Dr Elaine Jamieson will begin looking further into the area’s history and pre-history.
Dr Jamieson said they had been surprised by the discoveries made already.
She said: ‘We definitely were surprised in the sense that we thought there might be a hall there. The nature of archaeology is you don’t always find what you’re looking for, so it was surprising.
‘But the other two structures, the malthouse, we had no inclination that was there and the sunken tower structure is a very rare building. There are very, there’s only a few of them that have actually been excavated, so that was a real surprise. We had no idea that was there as well, so that’s a really exciting.
A large medieval hall was discovered, which is likely to have been a centre for politics, poetry and culture
‘It has given us more and more every single year that we have been excavating.’
Dr Leary added: ‘We use this as the main undergraduate field school for students at the University of York, so this is where they get their first real taste of excavation and it has blown us away.
‘We will be digging for the next few years and it is tremendously exciting.’
The team said they have already discovered evidence of Iron Age ritual activity at the site as well as prehistoric activity.
