Quest for kings: After Richard III, will England's King Alfred be ID'd?

LONDON — Only months after archaeologists discovered the missing body of Richard III, researchers are about to test human remains to see if they are those of another king, Alfred the Great, a ninth-century monarch. 

Officials have given the go-ahead to analyze bones found in an unmarked grave at a church in Winchester, southwest England, the capital of Alfred's kingdom, to determine if they are those of one of the best-known figures from early English history. 

Alfred ruled the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex, an area which covered much of southern England, from 871 until 899 and was famed for military victories against the Vikings who had invaded much of the north of the country. 

The remains were exhumed in March but church permission, known as a faculty, has only now been given to local community group Hyde900, which has been researching Alfred's final resting place, to carry out the tests. 

"The Faculty grants permission to carry out scientific investigations on human remains, recovered from St Bartholomew's Church earlier this year, to ascertain whether or not they belong to King Alfred," the Diocese of Winchester said in a statement. 

"The remains will stay in the care of the Church and the Consistory Court until they are reinterred." 

Hyde900 declined to give any details of what tests would be carried out to confirm if the bones were indeed those of Alfred, citing a confidentiality agreement, and said it would be a number of months before any results would be available. 

"We in Hyde900 are delighted that permission has now been given for expert analysis, and we look forward to learning more of the individuals represented by these remains," chairman Steve Marper said in a statement. 

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump administration deal with Nevada fuels data center fight in governor’s race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSLatino voters reject Trump’s immigration policies — and detail the personal impact

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAs Democrats eye big midterm gains, the Wisconsin governor’s race remains a nail-biter

FOR SUBSCRIBERSU.S. military prepares new Iran war options ahead of midterm elections

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCIA probe into intel leak led to discovery of gold bars at agent’s home, sources say

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTexas Latino leaders clash with national Democrats in a meeting over gubernatorial race

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Still in this very long day that started on Oct. 7th’

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAnimal rescues in Cuba struggle to care for abandoned pets amid deepening economic crisis

FOR SUBSCRIBERSLocals called their town ‘Almost Heaven’. A plan to open a Buc-ee’s exposed its underbelly.

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump keeps touting $21 trillion coming into the U.S. Even his website says it’s half that.

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA Siberian town and the world remain in the dark after a lab worker dies of suspected plague

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongress launches investigation into youth sports giant AAU’s handling of sexual abuse

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Time makes you more hungry’: Hostage’s mom on grief 3 years after Oct. 7 attack

FOR SUBSCRIBERSExperimental vaccine shows promise against deadly brain cancer in some patients

FOR SUBSCRIBERSMeta’s Oversight Board has a warning for AI companies building their own watchdogs

Slide 1 of 1

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump administration deal with Nevada fuels data center fight in governor’s race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSLatino voters reject Trump’s immigration policies — and detail the personal impact

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAs Democrats eye big midterm gains, the Wisconsin governor’s race remains a nail-biter

FOR SUBSCRIBERSU.S. military prepares new Iran war options ahead of midterm elections

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCIA probe into intel leak led to discovery of gold bars at agent’s home, sources say

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTexas Latino leaders clash with national Democrats in a meeting over gubernatorial race

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Still in this very long day that started on Oct. 7th’

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAnimal rescues in Cuba struggle to care for abandoned pets amid deepening economic crisis

FOR SUBSCRIBERSLocals called their town ‘Almost Heaven’. A plan to open a Buc-ee’s exposed its underbelly.

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump keeps touting $21 trillion coming into the U.S. Even his website says it’s half that.

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA Siberian town and the world remain in the dark after a lab worker dies of suspected plague

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongress launches investigation into youth sports giant AAU’s handling of sexual abuse

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Time makes you more hungry’: Hostage’s mom on grief 3 years after Oct. 7 attack

FOR SUBSCRIBERSExperimental vaccine shows promise against deadly brain cancer in some patients

FOR SUBSCRIBERSMeta’s Oversight Board has a warning for AI companies building their own watchdogs

Slide 1 of 1

British school children know Alfred for a legendary story that, preoccupied with his kingdom's problems following a battle, he burnt some cakes he was supposed to be watching while being sheltered by a peasant woman. Unaware of his identity, the woman scolded him for his laziness. 

After his death, his body was moved several times before being laid to rest at Hyde Abbey which fell into disrepair in the 16th century, before it is believed to have ended up in an unmarked grave in St Bartholomew's Church on the same site. 

If the remains are those of Alfred, he will be the second monarch whose lost bones have been discovered this year. 

In February, a team of archaeologists found the skeleton of Richard III, the last English king to die in battle in 1485, under a car park in the central English city of Leicester.