Today's Object of the Week is a monument to the prehistoric remains of an Anglo-Saxon palace of the King of Northumbria.
At the foot of Yeavering Bell in the vale formed by the River Glen on the edge of Northumberland National Park once stood the Royal Anglo-Saxon palace and town of Ad Gefrin.
And on the northern side of the Wooler to Kirknewton road stands a monument marking this site - one of the most remarkable discoveries of the 20th century.
About 1,300 years ago great timber halls stood here, once the royal residence of early Anglo-Saxon kings.
This field was once the site of the Ad Gefrin palace (Image: DAVID SIMPSON)
Excavated in 1955, this consisted of timber halls and defensive works and is most closely associated with Edwin, the sixth century King of Northumbria.
King Edwin’s Palace at Yeavering, or another great hall much like it somewhere in the Kingdom of Northumbria, is sometimes associated with a debate in which the king and his senior followers made the momentous decision to convert from Paganism to Christianity.
In the ‘History of the English Church and People’ written only a century later by the Venerable Bede, details of a speech are recorded in which one of Edwin’s heathen followers speaks out in favour of converting to Christianity.
Aerial photos and excavations at Ad Gefrin have revealed that as well as the halls of the royal palace there was a temple - and later a church - a cemetery, several buildings, a kitchen and a great enclosure representing a defended fort or coral of some kind.
Most intriguingly there was a wedge-shaped raked auditorium of an assembly structure where people were seated and addressed by perhaps the king, a noble or some other orator or performer from a podium.
According to the Venerable Bede, Ad Gefrin was abandoned following King Edwin’s reign and a new equally extensive palace and town was constructed called Maelmin in Milfield Plain to the north.
Proposals for a monument marking the site were first raised in 1957 and a committee formed to discuss ideas first met in March of that year.
A number of suggestions were mooted, and the committee initially favoured a bronze or stone figure of an enthroned king. Famed sculptor Henry Moore was approached and he agreed to halve his usual fee for the commission.
However, this came to nothing and the proposal was abandoned at a second committee meeting, held in The Black Bull, Wooler in October, in favour of placing a monument at the site. Three versions were proposed and the chosen design was estimated to cost £400.
Recommended reading:
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- A temple, a hermit and one eccentric squire - North Yorkshire's answer to Stonehenge
- Why this curious North East cave draws walkers with its mysterious history and beauty
The text for the slate panel inscription was initially proposed at a meeting in October 1958 and the words honed by Brian Hope-Taylor, the excavator of Ad Gefrin, to the text it now carries.
- Thanks to David Simpson of the England's North East website for his help in compiling this feature. For more of the history, culture, places and people of the North East, visit the site at englandsnortheast.co.uk/
- For more information in the site, visit the Ad Gefrin Trust website at gefrintrust.org/
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