WINCHESTER, ENGLAND—The Hampshire Chronicle reports that the remains of a twelfth-century wall and some floor surfaces have been unearthed at the site of Hyde Abbey in southeastern England by HYDE900, a community archaeology project. The remains of Alfred the Great (r. 871–899), who died in 899, were moved to the abbey church when it was completed. After the abbey was torn down in 1538 by King Henry VIII, the stone was reused in other buildings. The newly unearthed wall and floors, which are located in the yard of a private home, are thought to be the only traces of the 260-foot-long structure ever to be found. “The excavation now confirms the exact location of the abbey nave,” commented homeowners Paul and Kat McCulloch. “In addition, the find of a rare sculptured beakhead, perhaps representing a mythical beast, such as a Griffin, was a bonus. It is most likely to be a fragment of a voussoir (the wedge-shaped stone which is part of an arch) forming one of the orders of the arch over the doorway to the church,” they added. The beakhead will be displayed at Winchester Museum. To read about efforts to find Alfred’s tomb, go to “In Search of History’s Greatest Rulers: Alfred, King of Wessex.”
Traces of Hyde Abbey Found in England
News May 9, 2022
Recommended Articles
Digs & Discoveries November/December 2021
The Age of Glass
Digs & Discoveries July/August 2021
Laws of the Land
Digs & Discoveries March/April 2021
An Enduring Design
Artifacts November/December 2020
Illuminated Manuscript
-
Features March/April 2022
The Last King of Babylon
Investigating the reign of Mesopotamia’s most eccentric ruler
(iStock/HomoCosmicos) -
Features March/April 2022
Paradise Lost
Archaeologists in Nova Scotia are uncovering evidence of thriving seventeenth-century French colonists and their brutal expulsion
(© Jamie Robertson) -
Features March/April 2022
Exploring Notre Dame’s Hidden Past
The devastating 2019 fire is providing an unprecedented look at the secrets of the great cathedral
(Patrick Zachmann) -
Letter from Doggerland March/April 2022
Mapping a Vanished Landscape
Evidence of a lost Mesolithic world lies deep beneath the dark waters of the North Sea
(M.J. Thomas)