Archaeologists found a series of caves in the U.K. back in the 18th century, but recently research shows that it was where an exiled king fled. Here's the story from LIVESCIENCE.
Archaeologists have found the lair of an exiled Anglo-Saxon hermit king
Anchor Church cave could be one of the oldest intact domestic interiors in the U.K.
Until recently, archaeologists thought the cave dated to the 18th century. Their estimate was nearly 1000 years off the mark. A British cave dwelling has been identified as the refuge for an exiled Anglo-Saxon king, according to archaeologists.
Anchor Church Caves, located by the River Trent in a secluded part of the countryside in central England, was long considered to be an 18th-century "folly" — an extravagant building made solely for ornamentation or as a joke. But a new study has revealed that the cave house is the real deal. The 1,200-year-old structure was built during the tumultuous life of the Northumbrian king Eardwulf, who was hounded from his throne to live as a hermit, and later became a saint.
(Photo: this handsome actor played Eardwulf of Mercia, a supporting character in both The Saxon Stories novel series, and The Last Kingdom UK television series.)
WHO WAS EARDWULF? According to Historica Fandom.com, Eardwulf was born in Northumbria in 730 to a noble family.In 790, King Aethelred I of Northumbria attempted to have Eardwulf assassinated, but Eardwulf survived, which was seen as showing divine favor. He took the throne after Aethelred himself was murdered in 796, marrying an illegitimate daughter of Charlemagne. Eardwulf was king of Northumbria from 796 to 806, when he was deposed and went into exile. In 798, he crushed a rebellion at Billington Moor, and he battled against Coenwulf of Mercia in 801. He was deposed in 806 and died in 810.
CAVE DWELLING - Local legend said Eardwulf, or St. Hardulph as he was later known, lived inside the cave dwelling after he was deposed and exiled for mysterious reasons in A.D. 806. A fragment from a 16th-century book states that Eardwulf ''has a cell in a cliff a little from the Trent,'' and the banished king was buried in A.D. 830 at a location just 5 miles (8 kilometers) from the cave. Eardwulf lived in the cave along with his disciples, researchers believe
Edmund Simons, an archaeologist at the Royal Agricultural University in England and the principal investigator of the project, is convinced that Eardwulf lived in the caves under the watchful eyes of his enemies. Eardwulf lived and ruled during a time of persistent political instability in medieval England. During the seventh, eighth and ninth centuries, seven key kingdoms and over 200 kings intrigued, murdered and warred against each other in a fervent, constant scramble for supremacy.
"It was not unusual for deposed or retired royalty to take up a religious life during this period, gaining sanctity and in some cases canonization," he said. "Living in a cave as a hermit would have been one way this could have been achieved."
FIGURING OUT HOW THE CAVES WERE USED - The cave's narrow openings were widened to allow for 18th century parties. The researchers reconstructed the original plan of the caves, which includes three rooms and an easterly facing chapel, using detailed measurements, a drone survey, and a careful study of the architectural features — which closely resemble other Saxon architecture. Despite having been overlooked by historians until recently, cave dwellings may be "the only intact domestic buildings to have survived from the Saxon period," Simons said. The team has identified over 20 other cave houses in west-central England that could date back as far as the fifth century. The Anchor Church Caves were later modified in the 18th century, according to the team.
The researchers published their findings in the journal Proceedings of the University of Bristol Speleological Society. Originally published on Live Science.
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