0:00:02 > 0:00:04LOW, EERIE MUSIC
0:00:07 > 0:00:11- NEIL OLIVER: - A cold morning in March 2013.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15At St Bartholomew's Church in Winchester,
0:00:15 > 0:00:18the rector is preparing for an unusual day.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29Gathering here is a team of local historians,
0:00:29 > 0:00:32archaeologists, and a bishop.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34May God's peace be in our hearts,
0:00:34 > 0:00:38may God's peace be with us in our homes...
0:00:39 > 0:00:42This group is hoping to resolve a long-standing mystery
0:00:42 > 0:00:47about THIS unmarked grave in their local parish church.
0:00:53 > 0:00:58To some, what these archaeologists are doing may seem like sacrilege...
0:01:01 > 0:01:04..but this could be the culmination of an incredible story
0:01:04 > 0:01:07that began over a thousand years ago.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12I can see...a coxa, a humerus down there, there's
0:01:12 > 0:01:15a mandible, tibia, femora...
0:01:19 > 0:01:23For 150 years, it's been claimed that this unmarked grave
0:01:23 > 0:01:28contains the remains of one of England's greatest kings -
0:01:28 > 0:01:31the man who laid the foundations of the English nation -
0:01:31 > 0:01:34Alfred the Great.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36Well, that is extraordinary.
0:01:37 > 0:01:38Oh... Wow!
0:01:38 > 0:01:39Very, very moving indeed.
0:01:42 > 0:01:47No-one knows for sure where Alfred the Great's remains lie buried.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51So why does the team believe that these might be his bones?
0:01:51 > 0:01:55And why would they be mixed together with other skeletons
0:01:55 > 0:01:57in this unmarked grave?
0:02:02 > 0:02:04To answer these questions,
0:02:04 > 0:02:07I'm going to explore the story of Alfred's life...
0:02:07 > 0:02:09and death.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16I'll team up with specialists to test the bones.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22And we'll discover how they came to be
0:02:22 > 0:02:25buried in the graveyard of this modest parish church,
0:02:25 > 0:02:30and whether they really are the remains of King Alfred the Great.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35This is an extraordinary historical mystery
0:02:35 > 0:02:39concerning a great Anglo-Saxon king.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41If it hadn't been for Alfred,
0:02:41 > 0:02:44we would probably have a different national identity,
0:02:44 > 0:02:47we might even speak a different language.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51Alfred the Great was a hugely significant leader in our history,
0:02:51 > 0:02:53so it's important that we find out the truth
0:02:53 > 0:02:57about the remains exhumed from the unmarked grave.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00And if they do turn out to be those of Alfred,
0:03:00 > 0:03:03then they can be re-buried with all the dignity they deserve,
0:03:03 > 0:03:06well over a thousand years after his death.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16BELL TOLLS
0:03:16 > 0:03:19MONASTICSTYLE CHORAL MUSIC
0:03:19 > 0:03:20BELL TOLLS
0:03:23 > 0:03:27On the 26th October 899,
0:03:27 > 0:03:28the people of Wessex
0:03:28 > 0:03:30were in mourning for the death of their king.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34A grand procession bore the body of King Alfred
0:03:34 > 0:03:36through the streets of Winchester,
0:03:36 > 0:03:39the royal capital of Wessex.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43It was a fitting tribute to the king
0:03:43 > 0:03:46who had forged the beginnings of the English nation.
0:03:46 > 0:03:51Alfred had bound his people together through the power of language,
0:03:51 > 0:03:54religion and military force.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00This is precisely the sort of place where you would expect
0:04:00 > 0:04:02to find a great king buried -
0:04:02 > 0:04:04Winchester Cathedral.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08But in fact, this great cathedral wasn't even built
0:04:08 > 0:04:12until two centuries AFTER Alfred's death.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15CHORAL MUSIC
0:04:21 > 0:04:24When Alfred was buried in 899,
0:04:24 > 0:04:28it was at the Anglo-Saxon Old Minster, a much smaller church.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34It stood on a site right next to this cathedral.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37If you look down there,
0:04:37 > 0:04:40you can see where the foundations of the Old Minster
0:04:40 > 0:04:42have been picked out in brick
0:04:42 > 0:04:44in the cathedral lawns, and you can also
0:04:44 > 0:04:49see that it's been orientated on a slightly different direction.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59But Alfred didn't rest in peace in the Old Minster for long.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05Before his death, Alfred had been in the process of commissioning
0:05:05 > 0:05:11a new monastery - the New Minster - right next door to the Old Minster.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14He wanted it to become a mausoleum for him and his family.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20It was Alfred's dying wish to be buried in the New Minster.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22So in honour of his father,
0:05:22 > 0:05:26Alfred's son Edward completed the building. And in 903,
0:05:26 > 0:05:30Alfred's remains were exhumed, just four years after his burial,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33together with those of his wife, who had died the previous year.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36And with great ceremony they were carried in procession
0:05:36 > 0:05:40from the Old Minster to the New, and there reinterred.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42But that was only the start of the story.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44Alfred's remains weren't just exhumed once,
0:05:44 > 0:05:49but at least three times during the course of the next thousand years.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58The team leading the exhumation at St Bart's Church
0:05:58 > 0:06:00wants to find out if this really is
0:06:00 > 0:06:04the final resting place of King Alfred and his family.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06But before any work can begin
0:06:06 > 0:06:09on the bones, they have to wait for the Church of England
0:06:09 > 0:06:12to give permission for scientific testing to go ahead.
0:06:25 > 0:06:26For five months,
0:06:26 > 0:06:30the bones are securely stored at the University of Winchester.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37Finally, in August 2013, permission is granted.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45Dr Katie Tucker can begin the process of unlocking their secrets.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52Today, I've been able to start washing the bones.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58Essentially we just use normal tap water
0:06:58 > 0:07:02and soft toothbrushes to wash the bones with, and just very,
0:07:02 > 0:07:06very gently cleaning away any soil or any mud to get them as clean
0:07:06 > 0:07:11as they can possibly be to look at them properly for an analysis.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16To be able to actually look at the bones properly
0:07:16 > 0:07:19for the first time, to be able to get the process under way,
0:07:19 > 0:07:24it's actually very exciting and it's very interesting already.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27There's the potential that these could be the remains from very,
0:07:27 > 0:07:32very important individuals in the history of this country.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45Alfred the Great was born in 849
0:07:45 > 0:07:48in the town of Wantage, now in Oxfordshire.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53He was born the son of Aethelwulf, King of Wessex.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55As the youngest of five brothers,
0:07:55 > 0:07:59Alfred was never expected to become king.
0:08:03 > 0:08:05Today, we would scarcely recognise
0:08:05 > 0:08:07the England that Alfred was born into.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11In fact, it was a land of many kingdoms and many kings.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15Post-Roman Britain had been invaded by a succession of tribes
0:08:15 > 0:08:19from northern Europe - Jutes, Angles and Saxons.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22By the 9th century, there were four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in England -
0:08:22 > 0:08:27Mercia, East Anglia, Northumbria and Wessex.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33In the 850s, these four kingdoms would come under increasing attack
0:08:33 > 0:08:35from another invading force...
0:08:38 > 0:08:39..the Vikings.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44Alfred would grow up in the shadow of the Viking threat.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52Alfred is the only English king to be named "the Great",
0:08:52 > 0:08:56but we know very little about his formative years.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58The information we do have
0:08:58 > 0:09:00comes from the writings of a monk called Asser
0:09:00 > 0:09:02from St David's in Wales.
0:09:02 > 0:09:07In later life, Alfred commissioned him to be his biographer.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11Asser tells us that Alfred was
0:09:11 > 0:09:13"ignorant of letters" throughout his childhood.
0:09:13 > 0:09:14And that for all of his life
0:09:14 > 0:09:17he regretted not having had the benefit of an education.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21But the story goes that his mother Osburh had a book,
0:09:21 > 0:09:23a treasured book of poems.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26And that one day she said to her sons that whichever one of them
0:09:26 > 0:09:30could learn the poems by heart could keep the book.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32So dutifully Alfred set to work.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34And there came the day when he was able to demonstrate
0:09:34 > 0:09:38that he could indeed perform all of the poems in the book,
0:09:38 > 0:09:39and so he kept it.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43This love of literature and of learning was a character trait
0:09:43 > 0:09:46and it contributed to the making of a great king.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57Another powerful influence on Alfred came not in England,
0:09:57 > 0:09:58but hundreds of miles away...
0:09:58 > 0:10:00in Rome.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09In the 9th century, Rome was the centre of the Western world
0:10:09 > 0:10:11and of the Christian faith.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21The Anglo-Saxons had accepted Christianity
0:10:21 > 0:10:24as their primary religion just 200 years earlier.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28But they were soon enthusiastic about making pilgrimages to Rome.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32Alfred's father was no exception and he sent young Alfred on two visits
0:10:32 > 0:10:36to the city, the first in 853 when the boy was just four years old.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39These visits to the most impressive and powerful city
0:10:39 > 0:10:42in the Western world made a huge impression
0:10:42 > 0:10:44on the boy who would be king.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54This was a city of towering stone,
0:10:54 > 0:10:57quite unlike the simpler buildings back home.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09Alfred almost certainly stayed somewhere around here
0:11:09 > 0:11:12in what was once a fully-fledged Saxon quarter.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15It was founded by Saxons who came to Rome on pilgrimage
0:11:15 > 0:11:19and on business, and over time it became a permanent Saxon base,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22which is why it's still called "Borgo" today -
0:11:22 > 0:11:26from the Anglo-Saxon word "burh" meaning a "fortified town".
0:11:26 > 0:11:28And "Sassia" - from the word "Saxon" -
0:11:28 > 0:11:31is still seen on street signs around here.
0:11:37 > 0:11:42In the 9th century, Rome suffered repeated raids by Saracen bandits.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46One attack had terrorised the city
0:11:46 > 0:11:49just a few years before Alfred's first visit.
0:11:49 > 0:11:53The solution was to build a network of giant walls -
0:11:53 > 0:11:55and this is part of them here.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58They were built by Pope Leo IV and in 853 -
0:11:58 > 0:12:01the year of Alfred's first visit to Rome -
0:12:01 > 0:12:05Leo initiated a tradition of bare-foot walks around the walls,
0:12:05 > 0:12:07praying for the protection of the city as he did so.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10This vivid display of Christian faith
0:12:10 > 0:12:14coupled with military readiness made a lasting impression on Alfred.
0:12:14 > 0:12:19It shaped his thinking as an adult, as a warrior, and as a king.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23VOICES SING MUSIC FROM RELIGIOUS SERVICE
0:12:23 > 0:12:27Then came the real reason for Alfred's visit -
0:12:27 > 0:12:31the moment that probably impressed the young boy more than any other.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35You have to try and imagine what it must have been like for the boy.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37Alfred's only four years old at this point,
0:12:37 > 0:12:40and ushered into the presence of the Pope himself.
0:12:40 > 0:12:41What an occasion.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43Asser tells us that the Pope
0:12:43 > 0:12:46"anointed the child Alfred as King, ordaining him properly,
0:12:46 > 0:12:50"received him as an adoptive son, and confirmed him".
0:12:55 > 0:12:58As Alfred's biographer, Asser was possibly being
0:12:58 > 0:13:02a little bit creative with the truth here to build up Alfred's legend.
0:13:02 > 0:13:07It seems unlikely that the Pope would have anointed Alfred as King.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10But we do know that a ceremony took place.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14In a letter to Alfred's father, Pope Leo confirms that it had
0:13:14 > 0:13:18diplomatic as well as spiritual significance.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23The Pope wrote that "we have decorated him as a spiritual son
0:13:23 > 0:13:27"with the dignity of the belt and the vestments of the consulate".
0:13:27 > 0:13:30This may have been a special ceremony to honour
0:13:30 > 0:13:32a son of the royal House of Wessex.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36It could possibly have been papal recognition of Alfred
0:13:36 > 0:13:39as a potential future king. Whatever it really meant,
0:13:39 > 0:13:42it clearly had a huge significance for young Alfred,
0:13:42 > 0:13:46because he was to grow into a committed, devout Christian,
0:13:46 > 0:13:50who absolutely believed in his divine right to be king.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53CHORAL MUSIC
0:14:03 > 0:14:05Back in the lab,
0:14:05 > 0:14:10Dr Katie Tucker continues her examination of the exhumed bones.
0:14:10 > 0:14:14I think we've got bones from adult individuals,
0:14:14 > 0:14:16both males and females represented,
0:14:16 > 0:14:22and it's looking like we've probably got five or six individuals.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25Mostly cranial remains and long bones,
0:14:25 > 0:14:29though we do have pieces of the pelvis and quite a few small bones,
0:14:29 > 0:14:31like quite a few ribs, bones of the hands and feet,
0:14:31 > 0:14:33parts of the spine,
0:14:33 > 0:14:35but it does seem to be largely
0:14:35 > 0:14:38cranial remains and long bones that we have.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46We do need to separate them out to try and work out
0:14:46 > 0:14:50which bones go with different sets of remains,
0:14:50 > 0:14:52to see if we can get different individuals.
0:14:53 > 0:14:57I have to be scientific about it
0:14:57 > 0:15:00and remember that all human remains are essentially the same.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04You have to treat them all with the same amount of respect.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09It will take two weeks to piece the skeletons together.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13If one of them turns out to be King Alfred,
0:15:13 > 0:15:16it will have been on an EXTRAORDINARY journey.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27Buried first in Winchester's Old Minster in 899,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30Alfred was exhumed and re-buried next door
0:15:30 > 0:15:33in the New Minster just four years later.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38But Alfred's bones would soon be disturbed for a second time.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43In 1066, William the Conqueror invaded England.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48The country he captured was a valuable prize -
0:15:48 > 0:15:51it was one of the best-organised states in Europe,
0:15:51 > 0:15:56with a reliable currency and an efficient centralised legal system.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00This was a great triumph for William.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04But for Anglo-Saxon England it was a catastrophe.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10The Anglo-Saxon aristocracy was cut down at the Battle of Hastings.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12And in their place came Norman nobles,
0:16:12 > 0:16:17who took control of the country and crushed any opposition violently.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21King William stamped his authority by building stone castles
0:16:21 > 0:16:24all over the country, that dominated the landscape.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28The Normans also tore down the Saxon churches and replaced them
0:16:28 > 0:16:32with their own towering cathedrals, like this one at Winchester.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38First, the Normans demolished the Old Minster.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42Then in 1109, they destroyed the New Minster -
0:16:42 > 0:16:44the church where Alfred and his wife lay buried,
0:16:44 > 0:16:48along with their son Edward the Elder.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55The monks moved to a new home -
0:16:55 > 0:16:56Hyde Abbey -
0:16:56 > 0:16:58it was built on farmland outside the city walls.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02And this gatehouse is one of the last fragments
0:17:02 > 0:17:04of Hyde Abbey still standing.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles,
0:17:07 > 0:17:10in 1110, in the presence of William the Conqueror's son,
0:17:10 > 0:17:12Henry I, and his Queen, Maud,
0:17:12 > 0:17:15the monks walked in procession to their new home,
0:17:15 > 0:17:18carrying the remains of King Alfred, his wife Ealhswith
0:17:18 > 0:17:20and members of the royal family.
0:17:20 > 0:17:25BASS VOICE SINGS CHORAL PIECE
0:17:25 > 0:17:28The monks carried the remains to the new Hyde Abbey.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31OTHER VOICES JOIN IN SONG
0:17:32 > 0:17:35And the journey ended here,
0:17:35 > 0:17:38where the high altar of Hyde Abbey used to stand.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40Alfred and his family were entombed in sepulchres
0:17:40 > 0:17:43beneath the floor and in front of the high altar.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46A final resting place fit for a king.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52Alfred's bones would lie undisturbed
0:17:52 > 0:17:56under the high altar of Hyde Abbey for the next four centuries.
0:18:08 > 0:18:13Back in 868, the young Alfred came to a very different church -
0:18:13 > 0:18:15a small, wooden Anglo-Saxon church -
0:18:15 > 0:18:18much like this one in Essex.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25Alfred was about to enter a diplomatic alliance
0:18:25 > 0:18:28with the neighbouring kingdom of Mercia.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30An act which would begin the process
0:18:30 > 0:18:33of unifying the four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
0:18:38 > 0:18:39In 868,
0:18:39 > 0:18:42Alfred, accompanied by members of his family,
0:18:42 > 0:18:45came to be married to a member of the nobility.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47Her father was a Mercian nobleman,
0:18:47 > 0:18:51her mother was a member of the Mercian royal family.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53The bride's name was Ealhswith.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01Alfred's marriage to Ealhswith was a diplomatic coup
0:19:01 > 0:19:04that would increase his power and influence.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07But at the wedding feast,
0:19:07 > 0:19:10Alfred was suddenly struck down with excruciating stomach pain.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14He would never fully recover.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18Asser said that the pain "plagued him remorselessly by day and night".
0:19:20 > 0:19:23Asser tells us Alfred was in so much pain
0:19:23 > 0:19:25his guests thought it must be witchcraft
0:19:25 > 0:19:28or perhaps even the devil's work.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31More recently, experts have suggested that the ailment
0:19:31 > 0:19:33that stuck him down, and affected him for years to come,
0:19:33 > 0:19:37might have been Crohn's disease, which is a digestive disorder that,
0:19:37 > 0:19:40amongst other things, causes severe stomach pain.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43In any event, it was so bad that Alfred wrote to rulers
0:19:43 > 0:19:46and physicians all across Europe in hope of a cure.
0:19:54 > 0:19:59Despite his chronic illness, Alfred outlived his older brothers.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02One by one, they became king.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05One by one, they died.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11So, in 871, just three years after his wedding,
0:20:11 > 0:20:15the youngest son, who was never expected to rule,
0:20:15 > 0:20:17took the throne of Wessex.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23Alfred was immediately called upon to defend his kingdom.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27By the time of Alfred's coronation,
0:20:27 > 0:20:31the Vikings had cut a swathe across the kingdoms of England.
0:20:31 > 0:20:36East Anglia and Northumbria were the first to fall. Mercia fell next.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40Then the Vikings turned their full force
0:20:40 > 0:20:43on the only remaining English kingdom -
0:20:43 > 0:20:44Wessex.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48Alfred was driven into hiding
0:20:48 > 0:20:50in a wasteland known as the Somerset Levels.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57Today, the Somerset Levels are dominated by farmland,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00flat farmland as far as the eye can see.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03But in the 9th century, when Alfred came to power,
0:21:03 > 0:21:05this was primarily marshland.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08And it was just after he had taken the throne
0:21:08 > 0:21:11that he faced one of his greatest challenges.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13Alfred had fought alongside his brothers
0:21:13 > 0:21:16so he was no stranger to the battlefield.
0:21:16 > 0:21:21But in the year 875, a new foe appeared on the horizon -
0:21:21 > 0:21:23a Viking warlord called Guthrum.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25And in 878,
0:21:25 > 0:21:28when Alfred was celebrating the Yuletide at Chippenham,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31Guthrum and his men mounted a surprise attack.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34And it was into this terrain that Alfred fled in fear of his life.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46This was Alfred's lowest point as king.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54With a core band of men,
0:21:54 > 0:21:56he was forced to set up a secret fortified base
0:21:56 > 0:21:59deep within the wetlands of Somerset.
0:22:01 > 0:22:06When Alfred was here, this landscape was a watery maze of rivers
0:22:06 > 0:22:12and little streams, marshland, ponds, reed beds and little islands.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15In fact, it was the perfect place to hide.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25Alfred found a way through the treacherous bogs and marshes.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28And right in the middle of it all, he made his camp...
0:22:30 > 0:22:32..on a low-lying hill called the Isle of Athelney.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36He re-built his forces
0:22:36 > 0:22:39and waited for an opportunity to strike back at the Vikings.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45According to one of the best-known legends about Alfred,
0:22:45 > 0:22:48it's around here that he sought shelter from a farmer's wife
0:22:48 > 0:22:51and then inadvertently let her cakes burn
0:22:51 > 0:22:55because he was too distracted worrying about his own future.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59It's almost certainly a myth and possibly drawn from Norse legend.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01But archaeological digs up here,
0:23:01 > 0:23:05have found not just the remains of an abbey founded by Alfred,
0:23:05 > 0:23:08but also traces of iron smelting,
0:23:08 > 0:23:10which makes it possible that he and his men
0:23:10 > 0:23:11were smelting weapons
0:23:11 > 0:23:14while they spent time up here in a temporary camp.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21In May 878, Alfred decided to make his move.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25He rallied his forces, and Asser says he was joined by
0:23:25 > 0:23:30"all the inhabitants of Somerset and Wiltshire and Hampshire".
0:23:35 > 0:23:37The precise location of the battlefield
0:23:37 > 0:23:38has never been identified,
0:23:38 > 0:23:41but it's thought to have taken place down here on the low ground.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44It takes its name from the nearby village of Edington.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50Asser writes that Alfred
0:23:50 > 0:23:53"destroyed the Vikings with great slaughter
0:23:53 > 0:23:56"and pursued those who fled, hacking them down".
0:24:04 > 0:24:07At the Battle of Edington, Alfred won a stunning victory,
0:24:07 > 0:24:11for Wessex and for Anglo-Saxon England.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15According to local folklore,
0:24:15 > 0:24:18this white horse was cut in the 18th century
0:24:18 > 0:24:20to commemorate the victory.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22A fitting tribute.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25In the aftermath of the battle, Alfred persuaded Guthrum
0:24:25 > 0:24:27to convert to Christianity,
0:24:27 > 0:24:30and with Alfred acting as godfather to Guthrum,
0:24:30 > 0:24:34all of it taking place amid much feasting and celebration.
0:24:36 > 0:24:38The two soon agreed to divide the country -
0:24:38 > 0:24:42Alfred would keep Wessex to the southwest,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45Guthrum the lands the Vikings had conquered to the northeast.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53In battle and through diplomacy, Alfred had established himself
0:24:53 > 0:24:57as the "King above all the other kings" in the land.
0:24:57 > 0:25:02And the nation had taken a step closer to being a united "England".
0:25:14 > 0:25:17In Winchester, Dr Katie Tucker has finally assembled
0:25:17 > 0:25:20all the bones found in the unmarked grave.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27I must admit that my first reaction is I'm amazed by how much is here.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30- There's a lot of bones from the individuals.- Yeah.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33Well we have five skulls, you can see here,
0:25:33 > 0:25:37and then we have the remains of six post-cranial skeletons -
0:25:37 > 0:25:40so the rest of the skeleton that isn't the skull.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42Is it both sexes represented here?
0:25:42 > 0:25:44Yes, we do have males and females.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47- This individual is definitely a female.- Mm-hm.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51You can see the pelvis is very, very wide
0:25:51 > 0:25:54and of course they would generally tend to be smaller than males.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57- So, it's one woman definitely?- Yes.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00And then the likelihood that it's five males.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02- We have a definite male here.- Mm-hm.
0:26:04 > 0:26:12This one, probably a male, and this individual is also probably a male.
0:26:12 > 0:26:17So, based on that, this could be Alfred?
0:26:17 > 0:26:19That could be... That could be...
0:26:19 > 0:26:21That could be... And that's... This one definitely not.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23That one's definitely female, yes.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26When you look at these skeletons, what story
0:26:26 > 0:26:31do they tell about the kind of lives lived by the people?
0:26:31 > 0:26:33For such a small number of individuals
0:26:33 > 0:26:36they've got a lot going on in terms of disease.
0:26:36 > 0:26:37You can see the vertebrae,
0:26:37 > 0:26:41- you can see they're all fused together into one lump.- Yeah.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44And this is because all the ligaments that attach
0:26:44 > 0:26:48all the vertebrae together, and the tendons,
0:26:48 > 0:26:50- they've all turned to bone - they've all ossified.- Right.
0:26:50 > 0:26:56So it would have left the individual with very, very limited movement.
0:26:56 > 0:27:01Surely that makes it unlikely that this would be Alfred?
0:27:01 > 0:27:03There are historical reports
0:27:03 > 0:27:06that Alfred had some form of chronic health problem.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09It's suggested maybe it was Crohn's disease,
0:27:09 > 0:27:13but you probably would not be able to see that in the skeleton.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15So, in terms of the search for
0:27:15 > 0:27:17Alfred and his relatives, what is next?
0:27:17 > 0:27:21Well the next stage is to take some samples for radiocarbon dating,
0:27:21 > 0:27:23so we'll actually be able to work out
0:27:23 > 0:27:26the age of the bones from bone samples.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37By the early 16th century,
0:27:37 > 0:27:41we know that Alfred's remains had twice been exhumed and reburied.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44They were now buried with those of his family
0:27:44 > 0:27:46beneath the high altar of Hyde Abbey.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49But the story was about to take another extraordinary turn.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59Hyde Abbey was about to fall victim to one of the greatest acts
0:27:59 > 0:28:02of state vandalism England had ever seen.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06Vandal-in-chief in Hampshire was one Thomas Wriothesley,
0:28:06 > 0:28:10who built himself a hunting lodge here at Beaulieu.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14Thomas Wriothesley was a highly ambitious young man.
0:28:14 > 0:28:18At the age of just 19, he dropped out of a law degree at Cambridge
0:28:18 > 0:28:21to become assistant to a man who was on his way to becoming
0:28:21 > 0:28:24the most powerful person in the court of King Henry VIII -
0:28:24 > 0:28:26Thomas Cromwell.
0:28:26 > 0:28:29Wriothesley would rise up through the ranks,
0:28:29 > 0:28:31eventually becoming Lord Chancellor himself.
0:28:31 > 0:28:33And he made his name helping Henry
0:28:33 > 0:28:37resolve one of the greatest crises of his reign.
0:28:39 > 0:28:41In the early 16th century,
0:28:41 > 0:28:45a religious revolution was sweeping across northern Europe.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47In protest at the corruption and extravagance
0:28:47 > 0:28:51of the Catholic church, many people rejected Rome,
0:28:51 > 0:28:53turned to the Protestant faith,
0:28:53 > 0:28:57and embraced a simpler, more austere form of worship.
0:29:02 > 0:29:06When the Pope refused to grant Henry VIII a divorce from his first wife,
0:29:06 > 0:29:11Henry too decided to break from Rome and establish the Church of England.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15Men like Thomas Wriothesley were employed
0:29:15 > 0:29:18to close down the wealthy Catholic abbeys and monasteries.
0:29:18 > 0:29:24Anything that symbolised the pomp and ritual of Roman Catholicism
0:29:24 > 0:29:26was destroyed or stolen.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29Religious images were defaced,
0:29:29 > 0:29:33holy relics and bones were smashed to pieces.
0:29:33 > 0:29:37Within four years, 800 monasteries were attacked,
0:29:37 > 0:29:39including this one at Beaulieu.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48It's almost unbelievable, and it's certainly hard to imagine,
0:29:48 > 0:29:50that this vast, empty space
0:29:50 > 0:29:54was once the interior of a magnificent abbey church.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56You still do get a sense of the scale though,
0:29:56 > 0:29:57and the scale of this church
0:29:57 > 0:30:00would have been similar to that of Hyde Abbey church.
0:30:00 > 0:30:04The fragments that remain let you recreate it in your mind's eye.
0:30:04 > 0:30:09Each of these piles of rubble marks the footing for an enormous column,
0:30:09 > 0:30:12each of them about 60 or 70ft high, supporting the roof,
0:30:12 > 0:30:15and then all the way down at the end of this paving,
0:30:15 > 0:30:18in the east end, would have been the high altar.
0:30:23 > 0:30:27The dissolution of the monasteries meant yet another disturbance
0:30:27 > 0:30:28of Alfred's resting place.
0:30:31 > 0:30:36In 1538, Thomas Wriothesley turned his attention to Hyde Abbey,
0:30:36 > 0:30:39one of the richest abbeys in Hampshire.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46Wriothesley wrote to his boss, Thomas Cromwell,
0:30:46 > 0:30:49to assure him that at Hyde he was hard at work
0:30:49 > 0:30:53sweeping away the old bones that were known as relics.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55It was all about destroying for the last time
0:30:55 > 0:30:58the abomination of idolatry.
0:30:58 > 0:31:01Hyde Abbey itself was quickly demolished.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04It became little more than a fine stone quarry
0:31:04 > 0:31:07to be used for building and rebuilding all over the area.
0:31:07 > 0:31:09And you can sometimes see fragments of the abbey
0:31:09 > 0:31:11incorporated into the new.
0:31:11 > 0:31:13Look up there and you'll see a horned head,
0:31:13 > 0:31:18heavily weathered, but that was once a decorative item on the abbey.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20And all the while, King Alfred
0:31:20 > 0:31:23and his family were silently under the ground.
0:31:25 > 0:31:29With the abbey demolished, there was no longer any visible monument
0:31:29 > 0:31:32to mark the location of Alfred's remains.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35They now lay hidden, possibly lost for ever.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46By 880, King Alfred was at the height of his powers.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51He'd taken control of large swathes of the country.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56His kingdom would form the basis of what would become England.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00But only if he could keep it safe from attack.
0:32:04 > 0:32:08Alfred built new forts, protected by great defensive earthworks,
0:32:08 > 0:32:11like these at Wallingford in Oxfordshire.
0:32:12 > 0:32:14Overgrown as they are, these earthworks,
0:32:14 > 0:32:16are still incredibly impressive,
0:32:16 > 0:32:19but they're made even more so when you realise
0:32:19 > 0:32:21that all of this was put in place
0:32:21 > 0:32:23as part of a kingdom-wide system of defences
0:32:23 > 0:32:27that date back to King Alfred the Great himself.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30Now, it's about 8m deep at the moment,
0:32:30 > 0:32:33but in the 9th century, it would have been even bigger,
0:32:33 > 0:32:36probably with a timber palisade running around the top,
0:32:36 > 0:32:40all of it acting together to turn the town into a fortress.
0:32:44 > 0:32:48These earthworks surrounded the village on three sides,
0:32:48 > 0:32:50with a river defending the fourth.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54Such fort-like defences were called "burhs",
0:32:54 > 0:32:56from which we get the word "borough".
0:32:58 > 0:33:00Beginning with his capital, Winchester,
0:33:00 > 0:33:05Alfred chose strategic locations - intersecting roads and rivers -
0:33:05 > 0:33:08and commissioned 33 of these fortified towns
0:33:08 > 0:33:10all across southern England,
0:33:10 > 0:33:13from Devon to Kent and as far north as Warwick.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17These fortified towns were placed strategically
0:33:17 > 0:33:20no more than 40 miles apart,
0:33:20 > 0:33:22meaning Alfred's soldiers could be summoned quickly
0:33:22 > 0:33:24to defend the nearest town
0:33:24 > 0:33:27and the people could take refuge from attack.
0:33:29 > 0:33:33With his defences spread across this network of fortified towns,
0:33:33 > 0:33:38King Alfred and his kingdom became almost impossible to conquer.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41It was nothing less than a masterstroke.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45But Alfred's new defences needed another resource.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48An army.
0:33:51 > 0:33:53Instead of just rallying the men to help him,
0:33:53 > 0:33:56Alfred came up with a much more efficient way of doing things.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59He basically used a mathematical formula to enable him
0:33:59 > 0:34:04to calculate exactly how many men were needed to defend each town,
0:34:04 > 0:34:07and it came out at approximately
0:34:07 > 0:34:09one man for every four foot of wall.
0:34:09 > 0:34:12He was also careful to keep half the men in reserve,
0:34:12 > 0:34:14so that if half were committed,
0:34:14 > 0:34:17he had the rest waiting fresh to join the fray.
0:34:17 > 0:34:20He was organising the military in a way that hadn't been seen
0:34:20 > 0:34:22since the time of the Romans.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25A new England was emerging under his rule.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38Once his kingdom's defences were established,
0:34:38 > 0:34:42Alfred was able to realise his other great ambition.
0:34:42 > 0:34:44This would come to define his reign
0:34:44 > 0:34:47and help earn him the title "Alfred the Great".
0:34:47 > 0:34:52Alfred mourned the loss in England of all the culture and art
0:34:52 > 0:34:55and literacy that he'd enjoyed in Rome.
0:34:55 > 0:35:00And so he summoned, from all across Europe, some of the great scribes -
0:35:00 > 0:35:03John, the Old Saxon, from Germany, Grimbald from France
0:35:03 > 0:35:06and, significantly, Asser from Wales -
0:35:06 > 0:35:08and he had them teach him Latin
0:35:08 > 0:35:11so that he could personally supervise the translation
0:35:11 > 0:35:15into Old English of the "books most necessary for man to know".
0:35:15 > 0:35:19He was building a bridge between Anglo-Saxon England
0:35:19 > 0:35:22and the great minds of the classical world.
0:35:23 > 0:35:28MONASTIC SINGING
0:35:30 > 0:35:32I've come to the Bodleian Library in Oxford
0:35:32 > 0:35:35to see evidence of Alfred's determination
0:35:35 > 0:35:37to educate and unite his subjects.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41This is the oldest surviving book
0:35:41 > 0:35:44written entirely in the English language.
0:35:44 > 0:35:48It was translated by King Alfred in the early 890s.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51It's Pope Gregory's "Pastoral Care"
0:35:51 > 0:35:54and it's a guide explaining to the clergy
0:35:54 > 0:35:57how they should be looking after the people in their congregations.
0:35:57 > 0:36:02It's the best example of Alfred's translations.
0:36:02 > 0:36:04It reveals his passion not just for the language,
0:36:04 > 0:36:09but also for the nurturing and the care of his subjects.
0:36:09 > 0:36:13In the preface, he explains his wider ambition for the project.
0:36:13 > 0:36:18He wanted a copy of this to be sent to every bishop in his kingdom.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22It was for the benefit of the less well-educated clergy,
0:36:22 > 0:36:24those who couldn't read Latin.
0:36:25 > 0:36:27Hundreds of years after it was first written,
0:36:27 > 0:36:33the wisdom here was still regarded as ESSENTIAL reading for churchmen.
0:36:37 > 0:36:39This was the beginning of a new age
0:36:39 > 0:36:42of Anglo-Saxon literacy and knowledge.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44At court, Alfred established a school
0:36:44 > 0:36:47to instruct the children of the nobility
0:36:47 > 0:36:51and he required his ealdormen and reeves, the local rulers,
0:36:51 > 0:36:54to learn to read on pain of losing their offices.
0:36:58 > 0:37:02Here at the Ashmolean Museum, there's another remarkable symbol
0:37:02 > 0:37:05of Alfred's eagerness to celebrate the power of learning.
0:37:06 > 0:37:10This stunning little object
0:37:10 > 0:37:13is about as close to the man
0:37:13 > 0:37:16and his beliefs as we're likely to get.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19It's called the Alfred Jewel
0:37:19 > 0:37:24and it's the most unique item associated with King Alfred himself.
0:37:24 > 0:37:26And it is a wonder to behold.
0:37:27 > 0:37:31It's beautifully crafted - gold, cloisonne enamel.
0:37:32 > 0:37:37Underneath this single piece of highly polished crystal
0:37:37 > 0:37:40is a Christ-like image
0:37:40 > 0:37:43that's thought to represent learning or wisdom.
0:37:43 > 0:37:45It's almost certainly the handle of an aestel,
0:37:45 > 0:37:48which is a special pointer.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52There would have been a piece of ivory or wood coming out here.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56And it's used to point out the individual words,
0:37:56 > 0:38:00line by line on a page of manuscript, while reading aloud.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03And then worked into the outside
0:38:03 > 0:38:08and going all around this teardrop shape are the words, in Old English,
0:38:08 > 0:38:11"Alfred ordered me to be made".
0:38:14 > 0:38:16This isn't just about love of learning.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18It's more than that.
0:38:18 > 0:38:21It's the belief that kingship entails the responsibility
0:38:21 > 0:38:25to be mindful of the well-being of the people.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28And it had an extraordinary consequence.
0:38:28 > 0:38:30It unified the languages of the people,
0:38:30 > 0:38:32their beliefs and knowledge.
0:38:34 > 0:38:38Several disparate kingdoms were coming together as one.
0:38:38 > 0:38:41Anglia - England.
0:38:47 > 0:38:51Today in Oxford, Dr Katie Tucker is handing over some of the bones
0:38:51 > 0:38:53from the unmarked grave
0:38:53 > 0:38:57to Professor Tom Higham for radiocarbon dating.
0:38:59 > 0:39:01So, how old do you think this is?
0:39:01 > 0:39:03- This is the big question.- OK.
0:39:03 > 0:39:05If they're royal House of Wessex
0:39:05 > 0:39:10- we're hoping they're, well, Saxon. That's 900AD-ish.- Mm-hm.
0:39:12 > 0:39:17Professor Higham begins by taking a small sample of bone.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20He'll test it with a cutting-edge carbon-dating technique.
0:39:21 > 0:39:25Of all of the global carbon, a very, very small proportion of it
0:39:25 > 0:39:26is what we call radioactive.
0:39:26 > 0:39:29About one atom in a trillion atoms of carbon
0:39:29 > 0:39:32is radioactive carbon or radiocarbon.
0:39:32 > 0:39:37And all of us, all living organisms, take up in food carbon,
0:39:37 > 0:39:40which we use to build our bones and build our bodies.
0:39:40 > 0:39:41But once death occurs,
0:39:41 > 0:39:43the amount of radioactive carbon
0:39:43 > 0:39:46begins to slowly decline and disappear.
0:39:46 > 0:39:50The key to the dating technique is that we know how rapid this decay is
0:39:50 > 0:39:54and so our job is to measure how much radiocarbon there is
0:39:54 > 0:39:56and thereby date the bones.
0:39:58 > 0:40:00The tiny sample of bone is dissolved in acid
0:40:00 > 0:40:03and placed into an accelerator.
0:40:04 > 0:40:08Travelling at a speed of 15 million mph,
0:40:08 > 0:40:12the carbon is broken down into individual atoms,
0:40:12 > 0:40:15one of which is the radioactive carbon-14.
0:40:17 > 0:40:22Carbon-14 is what gives scientists the age of the specimen.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25But it'll be a couple of weeks before we get the results.
0:40:31 > 0:40:33We know that after Alfred's death in 899,
0:40:33 > 0:40:35he was buried and exhumed twice,
0:40:35 > 0:40:38before being laid to rest in Hyde Abbey.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43When the abbey was demolished in the 16th century,
0:40:43 > 0:40:45Alfred's coffin remained under the ground
0:40:45 > 0:40:47and the land returned to farming.
0:40:51 > 0:40:53250 years later,
0:40:53 > 0:40:56the story of Alfred's bones took another dramatic turn.
0:40:59 > 0:41:03I've come to Hampshire Record Office to find out what happened.
0:41:06 > 0:41:11In the late 18th century, interest in King Alfred was growing.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13This pamphlet was written by an amateur historian
0:41:13 > 0:41:15called Captain Henry Howard.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20Howard came to Winchester in 1797
0:41:20 > 0:41:25to try to find out what had happened to Alfred's grave.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28Howard provides the next piece of the jigsaw puzzle.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32About ten years earlier in 1788,
0:41:32 > 0:41:35the site of Hyde Abbey had been acquired by the county
0:41:35 > 0:41:38for the construction of a different sort of building altogether -
0:41:38 > 0:41:41Bridewell, the new town jail.
0:41:41 > 0:41:42According to Howard,
0:41:42 > 0:41:45the keeper of the jail was a man by the name of Mr Page.
0:41:45 > 0:41:49And Mr Page told him that in advance of the building work,
0:41:49 > 0:41:51the convicts themselves were brought in
0:41:51 > 0:41:54to prepare the ground, to clear the rubble and so forth.
0:41:54 > 0:41:55And while they doing that
0:41:55 > 0:41:58and while they were digging the foundation trenches,
0:41:58 > 0:42:01they also found "a stone coffin cased with lead
0:42:01 > 0:42:05"both within and without, and containing some bones
0:42:05 > 0:42:07"and remains of garments".
0:42:09 > 0:42:12Howard was convinced that Alfred's remains
0:42:12 > 0:42:15had been exhumed for the third time.
0:42:15 > 0:42:18Howard was appalled by what happened next.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21The stone coffin was broken into pieces,
0:42:21 > 0:42:24the lead from it was sold for two guineas
0:42:24 > 0:42:27and the bones were thrown around.
0:42:27 > 0:42:31It seemed likely to Howard that the remains "of the great Alfred,
0:42:31 > 0:42:34"after having been scattered about by the rude hands of convicts,
0:42:34 > 0:42:37"are now probably covered by a building erected
0:42:37 > 0:42:39"for their confinement and punishment".
0:42:42 > 0:42:44As well as writing this account of what had happened
0:42:44 > 0:42:46to Alfred's remains,
0:42:46 > 0:42:48Howard also drew a map,
0:42:48 > 0:42:51showing the foundations of the demolished abbey church.
0:42:51 > 0:42:55Howard marked the spot where the graves had been
0:42:55 > 0:42:56in front of the high altar,
0:42:56 > 0:43:00but he had no way of knowing what had happened to the bones
0:43:00 > 0:43:02after they were scattered around.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05To me, this is the most critical moment
0:43:05 > 0:43:09in the extraordinary journey of Alfred's remains after his death.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13Reburied somewhere within the foundations of a prison,
0:43:13 > 0:43:16they might have been lost now for all time.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26In the years after Howard wrote his pamphlet,
0:43:26 > 0:43:30national interest in King Alfred continued to grow.
0:43:30 > 0:43:35With his famous defence of country, Christianity and education,
0:43:35 > 0:43:39Alfred was seen by many Victorians as the perfect English king.
0:43:42 > 0:43:46Fuelled by growing national and imperial pride,
0:43:46 > 0:43:48they erected statues in his memory.
0:43:49 > 0:43:53By this time, the site of Alfred's grave was under the local prison,
0:43:53 > 0:43:56but that was demolished too in the 1840s
0:43:56 > 0:43:58and the area returned to farmland.
0:43:58 > 0:44:01This, though, was the era of great British enthusiasm
0:44:01 > 0:44:03for the Anglo-Saxon hero,
0:44:03 > 0:44:07and more and more people wanted to find his remains.
0:44:10 > 0:44:14One amateur enthusiast came to Winchester in 1866
0:44:14 > 0:44:16determined to find Alfred.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18His name was John Mellor
0:44:18 > 0:44:21and he was captivated by Captain Howard's account
0:44:21 > 0:44:23of the desecration of Alfred's grave.
0:44:25 > 0:44:27Mellor added a new twist.
0:44:27 > 0:44:30He claimed that Mr Page, the keeper of the jail,
0:44:30 > 0:44:34had told Captain Howard that he had reburied the bones
0:44:34 > 0:44:37from the stone coffin in a vault beside a spring on the site.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40Now, Mellor was convinced enough to find the spring
0:44:40 > 0:44:43and here is where he started digging.
0:44:46 > 0:44:49This memorial garden is built on the site
0:44:49 > 0:44:50of the high altar of Hyde Abbey.
0:44:52 > 0:44:56These three stones represent the graves of Alfred,
0:44:56 > 0:45:00his wife Ealhswith and his son Edward the Elder.
0:45:01 > 0:45:05Using Captain Howard's hand-drawn map as a guide,
0:45:05 > 0:45:08Mellor claimed he found five skulls and their skeletons.
0:45:08 > 0:45:11He was convinced that these were the remains of King Alfred
0:45:11 > 0:45:13and his family.
0:45:16 > 0:45:20Mellor said he felt he'd "proved beyond the possibility of a doubt"
0:45:20 > 0:45:22that he'd found Alfred's remains.
0:45:22 > 0:45:26To record his discovery, he took THESE photographs.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28But even with photographic evidence,
0:45:28 > 0:45:31Mellor wasn't given a warm welcome in Winchester.
0:45:33 > 0:45:36All of this activity was scandalous to some.
0:45:36 > 0:45:38It was technically illegal as well as sacrilegious
0:45:38 > 0:45:41to disturb human remains in this way.
0:45:41 > 0:45:42It made the local papers.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45One writer, identified as Mr Q,
0:45:45 > 0:45:46said that he had visited the site
0:45:46 > 0:45:50and had seen "numerous arm bones and skulls and long bones
0:45:50 > 0:45:53"lying huddled together in a candle box".
0:45:53 > 0:45:57Mellor responded to his critics by publishing a pamphlet of his own.
0:45:57 > 0:46:01He insisted that he wanted to "save the bones from further mutilation
0:46:01 > 0:46:05"and violence and transfer them to more hallowed ground",
0:46:05 > 0:46:07and he invited the people of Winchester to come and view
0:46:07 > 0:46:11the bones of their long-lost king.
0:46:11 > 0:46:13But in an age before carbon dating,
0:46:13 > 0:46:15it was impossible for Mellor to prove
0:46:15 > 0:46:17that the remains were indeed Alfred's.
0:46:17 > 0:46:19He won little support.
0:46:19 > 0:46:22Maybe he was too much of an amateur to be taken seriously.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27Mellor went on to sell the bones for just ten shillings.
0:46:27 > 0:46:29That's £38 in today's money.
0:46:29 > 0:46:30And the buyer?
0:46:30 > 0:46:34The Reverend William Williams, vicar of the local parish church,
0:46:34 > 0:46:38this church, Saint Bartholomew's in Hyde.
0:46:42 > 0:46:46This small church once stood in the grounds of Hyde Abbey.
0:46:46 > 0:46:50It's only a few hundred metres from the site of the abbey's high altar.
0:46:50 > 0:46:56The Reverend Williams reburied the bones here in this unmarked grave.
0:46:56 > 0:47:01Ever since, it's been said that this is the last resting place
0:47:01 > 0:47:03of King Alfred the Great.
0:47:05 > 0:47:08If these were the remains of Alfred and his family,
0:47:08 > 0:47:13then by now they had been exhumed and reburied four times.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16But did Mr Page, the keeper of the jail,
0:47:16 > 0:47:19really put them back exactly where he found them?
0:47:19 > 0:47:24And did John Mellor discover them again nearly a hundred years later?
0:47:29 > 0:47:34The bones lay undisturbed in this unmarked grave for nearly 150 years.
0:47:35 > 0:47:40But three years ago, a local history group called Hyde900
0:47:40 > 0:47:42began the legal process
0:47:42 > 0:47:45that would lead to the bones being exhumed and tested.
0:47:46 > 0:47:50They'd pieced together all the available historical evidence
0:47:50 > 0:47:52and decided to find out once and for all
0:47:52 > 0:47:55if the unmarked grave in their local churchyard
0:47:55 > 0:47:59really was the final resting place of King Alfred the Great.
0:47:59 > 0:48:01Well, that is extraordinary.
0:48:01 > 0:48:04Oh... Wow.
0:48:04 > 0:48:08It's very moving, actually seeing it in the flesh, so to speak.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11It's almost one of those slightly heart-stopping moments.
0:48:11 > 0:48:15Circumstantial evidence suggests it might be Alfred and his family,
0:48:15 > 0:48:17but, frankly, we don't know and we won't know
0:48:17 > 0:48:20until the scientists do their job, but I'm very excited.
0:48:24 > 0:48:28Six months after the exhumation, Professor Tom Higham
0:48:28 > 0:48:32has finally established the age of the bones from the unmarked grave.
0:48:32 > 0:48:36OK, Tom, the radiocarbon dates are back.
0:48:36 > 0:48:41You know that we're looking for a date around 900AD.
0:48:41 > 0:48:42What have you got?
0:48:42 > 0:48:45OK, so these are the results and they're in calendar years.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48And what you can see is that four of the five specimens
0:48:48 > 0:48:50are actually quite a lot later.
0:48:50 > 0:48:54They're in the period of 1300 to about 1420AD.
0:48:54 > 0:48:56- So, way off? - Way off, I'm afraid to say.
0:48:56 > 0:48:59There is one that's older but I'm afraid it's not as old as...
0:48:59 > 0:49:01as you'd hope.
0:49:01 > 0:49:03That's individual C, this single skull here,
0:49:03 > 0:49:05and that one is older than those.
0:49:05 > 0:49:08It centres on around 1100AD
0:49:08 > 0:49:13but I'm afraid it's still not as old as King Alfred's death date.
0:49:13 > 0:49:17So the earliest date we've got is a skull that went into the ground
0:49:17 > 0:49:20around the time of the building of the Abbey?
0:49:20 > 0:49:24Yeah, so around 1110 was Hyde Abbey,
0:49:24 > 0:49:25so there's no possibility that
0:49:25 > 0:49:28that could be much further... far enough back.
0:49:28 > 0:49:32Yeah, I'm afraid I was really disappointed when I saw the results.
0:49:32 > 0:49:34I was hoping, like you, that there'd be at least one
0:49:34 > 0:49:38in the right ballpark, but unfortunately not.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41So, who on earth are they then, these five, six individuals
0:49:41 > 0:49:45that all end up bundled together into an unmarked grave?
0:49:45 > 0:49:47It seems, unfortunately, these are individuals
0:49:47 > 0:49:50either from other graves within the church
0:49:50 > 0:49:53or other graves within the precincts of Hyde Abbey,
0:49:53 > 0:49:56rather than being from in front of the high altar,
0:49:56 > 0:49:59and Alfred and his family.
0:49:59 > 0:50:05So, it does make you wonder, where is Alfred?
0:50:15 > 0:50:18We now know that the mysterious unmarked grave
0:50:18 > 0:50:20in St Bartholomew's churchyard
0:50:20 > 0:50:23is NOT the final resting place of Alfred the Great.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29It seems that John Mellor was either mistaken or lying
0:50:29 > 0:50:33about the identity of the bones he excavated and sold to the church.
0:50:35 > 0:50:38This suggests that Alfred's remains are still lying
0:50:38 > 0:50:42somewhere near the site of the high altar of Hyde Abbey,
0:50:42 > 0:50:44where we know the convicts scattered them
0:50:44 > 0:50:46in the late 18th century.
0:50:54 > 0:50:57Just as the trail looks like it's gone cold,
0:50:57 > 0:50:59there's an extraordinary twist.
0:51:00 > 0:51:05Back in 1999, there was a community excavation of the Hyde Abbey site.
0:51:07 > 0:51:10They found traces of Mellor's excavation
0:51:10 > 0:51:12and what they thought to be animal bones.
0:51:14 > 0:51:18These were boxed and stored in Winchester's City Museum.
0:51:20 > 0:51:24While waiting for the test results from the unmarked grave,
0:51:24 > 0:51:28Dr Katie Tucker decided to see what else the animal bones
0:51:28 > 0:51:32from the 1999 dig could tell her about the history of the site.
0:51:34 > 0:51:39But when Katie asked the museum for permission to study them,
0:51:39 > 0:51:43she was told there were also two boxes of human bones.
0:51:43 > 0:51:47Because funding for the community excavation ran out,
0:51:47 > 0:51:51they hadn't been fully examined at the time.
0:51:51 > 0:51:54Katie decided to examine the bones to find out
0:51:54 > 0:51:58if THEY could be the remains of Alfred and his family.
0:51:58 > 0:52:03So this is more potential material that could be related
0:52:03 > 0:52:06- to the royal House of Wessex?- Yes,
0:52:06 > 0:52:09there's a possibility that any one of these,
0:52:09 > 0:52:11or more than one, could be the right date.
0:52:11 > 0:52:13And what have we got?
0:52:13 > 0:52:15These are the bones that were found closest
0:52:15 > 0:52:17to the site of the high altar.
0:52:17 > 0:52:20I can see, obviously, leg bones but is this skull material?
0:52:20 > 0:52:24Yeah, we have parts of single skull here
0:52:24 > 0:52:26that's probably an adult female.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30We've got another part of skull here, it might be an adult male
0:52:30 > 0:52:33but it's quite fragmentary.
0:52:33 > 0:52:37We have parts of a humerus here, so this is the upper arm.
0:52:37 > 0:52:41And yes, we have quite a lot of a single individual here -
0:52:41 > 0:52:45we've got parts of both arms, the majority of one of the legs,
0:52:45 > 0:52:46and part of the other leg.
0:52:46 > 0:52:48And then we have here
0:52:48 > 0:52:50a part of a male pelvis.
0:52:50 > 0:52:54So, in terms of looking for Alfred the Great,
0:52:54 > 0:52:57have you had these bones dated?
0:52:57 > 0:52:59Yes, we've sent a small fragment of bone
0:52:59 > 0:53:02from each of the groups of bone off
0:53:02 > 0:53:06and we're now just waiting for Tom Higham.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09He's abroad at the moment, but he's hopefully got the results for us
0:53:09 > 0:53:11and he's going to join us on the screen.
0:53:11 > 0:53:13- Conjure him up.- OK.
0:53:16 > 0:53:18DIALLING TONE
0:53:18 > 0:53:21- Hi, Tom.- Hi, Tom.
0:53:21 > 0:53:23'Hi, Katie. Hi, Neil. How are you?'
0:53:23 > 0:53:24We're well.
0:53:24 > 0:53:26Yeah, pretty good.
0:53:26 > 0:53:29'We've got some news - we've got five new dates.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32'Three of them fall, once again, to the 1300s period,
0:53:32 > 0:53:35'so they're consistent with the previous batch.
0:53:35 > 0:53:38'There's one which is a little older bit than that,
0:53:38 > 0:53:41'but there's a fifth one - which is this piece of male pelvis -
0:53:41 > 0:53:44'that's older than anything we've actually done before.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47'And it's actually falling into the late part of the 800s
0:53:47 > 0:53:49'and into the 900s AD.'
0:53:49 > 0:53:52- No! Really?!- Fantastic. - 'So very, very old indeed.'
0:53:52 > 0:53:53You're joking?
0:53:53 > 0:53:57So, it's right from the right time for Alfred and family?
0:53:57 > 0:54:00- 'It's bang on the money.' - That's fantastic, Tom.
0:54:00 > 0:54:03- 'Great stuff.'- Yeah, that's great news. Thank you very much.
0:54:03 > 0:54:05- 'A pleasure. Bye for now.' - Bye, Tom.
0:54:06 > 0:54:09Well, what do you make of that?
0:54:09 > 0:54:12That is unexpected, I would say. But, yeah, very good news.
0:54:12 > 0:54:14I was sceptical.
0:54:14 > 0:54:17What does it mean, if we add it up, what we've got here?
0:54:17 > 0:54:20- It's this bone here, isn't it?- Yeah, it's the part of the male pelvis.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23Um, well...
0:54:23 > 0:54:25the part of the pelvis that we have,
0:54:25 > 0:54:28it's from a male, from an adult male
0:54:28 > 0:54:30in their 40s,
0:54:30 > 0:54:34so that would tie in quite well with either Alfred
0:54:34 > 0:54:36or his son Edward the Elder.
0:54:36 > 0:54:40Um, and, basically, as far as we know,
0:54:40 > 0:54:43from the chronicles and from the records,
0:54:43 > 0:54:47the only individuals close to the site of the high altar
0:54:47 > 0:54:50who are of the right age when they died,
0:54:50 > 0:54:53and the right date when they died,
0:54:53 > 0:54:57would either be Alfred or Edward.
0:54:57 > 0:55:02So, in terms of circumstantial evidence, this is pretty good.
0:55:02 > 0:55:05And at the distance that we're reaching back into time
0:55:05 > 0:55:09to find the pelvis of a 40-something man
0:55:09 > 0:55:13who died around 900-ish
0:55:13 > 0:55:16in that location by the high altar in Hyde Abbey,
0:55:16 > 0:55:18the likelihood is, or the strong possibility is...
0:55:18 > 0:55:21Yes, there's a good chance I would say
0:55:21 > 0:55:25because just from the records, who else could it be?
0:55:25 > 0:55:29What more would you need, then,
0:55:29 > 0:55:31in a court of law, I suppose,
0:55:31 > 0:55:33to say conclusively?
0:55:33 > 0:55:36Well, really, because we only have that one piece,
0:55:36 > 0:55:39there really isn't much else we can do from that.
0:55:39 > 0:55:42We haven't got anybody else we could compare it with,
0:55:42 > 0:55:43so from that piece of bone
0:55:43 > 0:55:47there isn't really anything else that we could do.
0:55:47 > 0:55:51However, there is the possibility of going back to the site
0:55:51 > 0:55:52to re-excavate.
0:55:52 > 0:55:56So more of Alfred or his son, or both, could be there still?
0:55:56 > 0:55:59Yeah, there's the potential that in areas that were not excavated
0:55:59 > 0:56:04in the '90s, there may still be fragments of bone to be found.
0:56:04 > 0:56:09But imagine, even given all of that, the possibility as we stand here,
0:56:09 > 0:56:14is that the life and the legend of Alfred the Great
0:56:14 > 0:56:18comes down to this enigmatic fragment of bone.
0:56:18 > 0:56:21Yeah, it's quite amazing, really, yeah.
0:56:30 > 0:56:32This isn't quite the conclusion
0:56:32 > 0:56:35the members of Hyde900 had been expecting.
0:56:35 > 0:56:39But it's an exciting development in the 1,000-year long story
0:56:39 > 0:56:41of Alfred the Great's remains.
0:56:49 > 0:56:51I was just very thrilled. I can't tell you.
0:56:51 > 0:56:54In fact, I can't tell you. Words can't say.
0:56:54 > 0:56:57What's fantastic about it is that we've come full circle,
0:56:57 > 0:56:59we've come back to the site of the Hyde Abbey
0:56:59 > 0:57:02and we're in the right context.
0:57:02 > 0:57:05So I think that's really exciting
0:57:05 > 0:57:08and is it not by any means the end of the story.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11We've been excited on several occasions through this project,
0:57:11 > 0:57:13but it's another very important step. It's taken us
0:57:13 > 0:57:15where we perhaps hadn't anticipated being
0:57:15 > 0:57:17when we looked for bones from the churchyard,
0:57:17 > 0:57:19but it's nonetheless following the story through.
0:57:19 > 0:57:22This really is an opportunity for us, working with our partners locally,
0:57:22 > 0:57:25to do further excavation on this site to see what else is turned up.
0:57:25 > 0:57:27I think it's also important that we seize the opportunity
0:57:27 > 0:57:30to convey the wider message about the significance
0:57:30 > 0:57:32of Alfred the Great and his era.
0:57:32 > 0:57:36CHORAL MUSIC
0:57:36 > 0:57:38Alfred the Great was the king who began
0:57:38 > 0:57:40the unification of England...
0:57:42 > 0:57:44..who fought off the Viking threat...
0:57:46 > 0:57:49..and who inspired a cultural renaissance.
0:57:50 > 0:57:55Without him, England would be a very different place.
0:57:57 > 0:58:01And now we have evidence indicating where his remains might be.
0:58:01 > 0:58:06Our investigation has brought us back here to Hyde Abbey
0:58:06 > 0:58:08and it seems highly likely that Alfred's remains
0:58:08 > 0:58:09are still buried here,
0:58:09 > 0:58:12probably close by the site of the high altar.
0:58:12 > 0:58:15It's not clear exactly what will happen next.
0:58:15 > 0:58:17There may in time be a full-scale
0:58:17 > 0:58:20archaeological excavation of the site.
0:58:20 > 0:58:23And if that work turns up more of Alfred's remains,
0:58:23 > 0:58:26there are those who believe they should then be reburied
0:58:26 > 0:58:28with all the ceremony and honour that they deserve.
0:58:28 > 0:58:31But if history has taught us anything,
0:58:31 > 0:58:36it's that Alfred the Great's best memorial is probably all around us,
0:58:36 > 0:58:38the nation that he helped inspire -
0:58:38 > 0:58:40England.