Historical researcher Graham Phillips has claimed that the long-lost remains of King Alfred the Great are buried under a car park in Winchester, following a 13-year investigation. The discovery, announced just in time for England's match against Norway, would solve one of English history's greatest mysteries.
13-Year Search Ends Under a Car Park
Phillips, an author and historical researcher, says the bones lie just 20 yards from a stone slab marking where Alfred was once interred. "Bizarrely, like Richard III, the bones are under a car park," he said. Alfred the Great, the only English monarch to be given that title, died in 899 and is considered the founder of the English nation.
Alfred's Remains Moved Multiple Times
Alfred was originally buried in Winchester Cathedral, but in 1110 his remains were transferred to Hyde Abbey, where they were interred before the high altar alongside his wife and son. The abbey was demolished after the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539. In 1866, antiquarian John Mellor excavated the site during workhouse construction, believing he had found Alfred's bones, and had them reburied at St. Bartholomew's Church. However, carbon dating in 2013 showed those bones were from over 200 years after Alfred's death.
New Evidence Points to 1788 Relocation
Phillips discovered that in 1788, a prison was built next to Hyde Abbey, and the grave site became a garden for the warden's house. He believes the bones were moved then. While searching Cambridge University archives for plans of the ruins, he found an 1800 article by historian Henry Howard in Archaeologia, the journal of the London Society of Antiquaries. Howard wrote that prisoners landscaping the warden's garden unearthed bones, which were reburied nearby, and included a map. Phillips is convinced these were Alfred's remains.
No Plans to Excavate Yet
Despite the claim, there are currently no plans to excavate the car park or return the remains to Winchester Cathedral. Phillips's discovery, reported by the Daily Mail, adds to the intrigue of Alfred's final resting place, much like the discovery of Richard III under a Leicester car park in 2012.
