Revellers with drinking horns surround the last Anglo-Saxon king, who was just two years away from a painful death following an arrow to the eye.
Now the famous, rambunctious feast scene in the Bayeux Tapestry, two years before King Harold was brutally killed at the Battle of Hastings, has been located by archaeologists.
Experts can now identify with certainty the site of King Harold’s palace in Sussex – oddly enough, based on the discovery of an ‘en suite’ toilet discovered there in 2006.
Experts, drawing on very recent evidence showing inside toilets were often found in high-status 10th and 11th century homes, can now narrow down the tragic king’s estate to the specific site of a modern-day house in a coastal area of the village of Bosham, in West Sussex.
It is a major historical breakthrough as Bosham, where King Harold said his goodbyes before later setting sail for Normandy, is central to the narrative of the Bayeux Tapestry, as one of only three locations – along with Westminster and Hastings – to be shown twice.
The Bayeux Tapestry, which is longer than an Olympic-sized swimming pool, at about 68.3 metres (approx 224 feet), has the Bosham scene right at its beginning before going on to show Harold plucking an arrow from his eye, and then being hacked down by a Norman knight.
Dr Duncan Wright, senior lecturer in Medieval Archaeology at Newcastle University, who led the study to locate the Bosham estate of King Harold, said: ‘A latrine was the killer clue to find what was, essentially, the palace of King Harold.
‘That was surprising, but an en suite bathroom would have been found only among the highest elites.
Revellers with drinking horns surround the last Anglo-Saxon king, who was just two years away from a painful death following an arrow to the eye. Now the famous, rambunctious feast scene in the Bayeux Tapestry, two years before King Harold was brutally killed at the Battle of Hastings, has been located by archaeologists
The exact location was unclear, although people in Bosham often spoke of their suspicions that King Harold had lived on an estate in the same area as a private house near a church. Pictured: Holy Trinity Church, Bosham
‘This added to the evidence of a private port, a water mill, a deer park and a church on this estate in Bosham, which suggests it must have belonged to his family.
‘The latrine was not pictured in the Bayeux Tapestry, of course, but it would have been just up the stairs from the banqueting hall within a private chamber.
‘These wood-lined pits below can be found easily as they are often still green in colour and can even still smell really bad all these centuries later.’
The Bayeux Tapestry famously narrates the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 when William, Duke of Normandy, challenged Harold for the throne.
The Tapestry culminates in Williams’s victory at Hastings, after which he seized the royal residence of King Harold.
It was known that King Harold’s estate was within the village of Bosham – which is only one of four places to be named within the Bayeux Tapestry.
The feast in its banqueting hall, featuring the revellers using giant drinking horns, is followed in the embroidered tableau by the king descending a set of steps to the river to embark on his ill-fated journey to Normandy.
But the exact location was unclear, although people in Bosham often spoke of their suspicions that King Harold had lived on an estate in the same area as a private house near a church.
The owners of the house (garden wall, pictured), who have asked to remain anonymous, commissioned the firm West Sussex Archaeology to see what they could dig up in 2006.
The Bayeux Tapestry, which is longer than an Olympic-sized swimming pool, at about 68.3 metres (approx 224 feet), has the Bosham scene right at its beginning before going on to show Harold plucking an arrow from his eye, and then being hacked down by a Norman knight
King Harold died at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Pictured: a sculpture of Harold Godwinson on the exterior of Waltham Abbey in EssexÂ
The owners of the house, who have asked to remain anonymous, commissioned the firm West Sussex Archaeology to see what they could dig up in 2006.
This revealed the latrine, as well as artefacts including Anglo-Norman pottery, a silver brooch from the 11th century and a copper alloy from a stirrup, suggesting aristocrats with decorated horses lived there.
Now archaeologists and historians, led by Newcastle and Exeter University, have reinvestigated the evidence to conclude that the latrine indicates a royal residence.
They say the private port, a church which was part of the estate, and the remains of a water mill, which ordinary people may have had to pay to use to grind their wheat, all indicate the rise of ‘conspicuous consumption’ seen in the super-rich who lived before the Norman Conquest.
The new research, published in The Antiquaries Journal, discusses evidence of two timber buildings on King Harold’s family land.
One was likely to be the banqueting hall, with its upstairs bedchamber and en suite ‘bathroom’ – the latrine pit likely emptied out by unlucky servants.
The other building may have been a storehouse, kitchen, stable or granary, based on similar estates from the time.
A bridge from the residence likely led to the church, which experts believe Harold’s family took into private ownership from the site of a larger monastery.
The private port, a church which was part of the estate, and the remains of a water mill, which ordinary people may have had to pay to use to grind their wheat, all indicate the rise of ‘conspicuous consumption’ seen in the super-rich who lived before the Norman Conquest
A section of the Bayeux Tapestry depicts Norman knights attacking the Anglo-Saxon shield-wall
Holy Trinity Church, which is still standing has a sundial, as such was the power of the royals and aristocracy that they even ‘controlled time’, with ordinary people needing to consult their sundials to know when to pray.
Co-author Professor Oliver Creighton, from the University of Exeter, said: ‘The Norman Conquest saw a new ruling class supplant an English aristocracy that has left little in the way of physical remains, which makes the discovery at Bosham hugely significant — we have found an Anglo-Saxon show-home.’
Royston’s big brother: Epic history of the Bayeux Tapestry, which inspired the three-decade long effort
Nazi connections: Heinrich Himmler (pictured) coveted the Bayeux Tapestry because it is a part of Germanic history
1066: Between seven and twelve thousand Norman soldiers defeat an English army of a similar size at what is now Battle, East Sussex
1476: The embroidered cloth depicting the battle is referred to for the first time in an inventory of Bayeux Cathedral
1732-3: Antiquarian Smart Lethieullier writes the first detailed English account of the tapestry while living in Paris – but it is not published till 1767Â
1792: During the French Revolution, the precious artwork was declared public property and confiscated to be used as a covering for wagons – but it was saved by a lawyer who hid it in his homeÂ
1804: In a move dripping in symbolism, Napoleon – under the impression France was about to invade and conquer Britain – had the tapestry temporarily moved to Paris for display
1870: The tapestry is removed from Bayeux once again during the Franco-Prussian War – but it is moved back two years laterÂ
1944: The Gestapo removed the tapestry to the Louvre in Paris – just days before the German withdrawal. A message from Heinrich Himmler – who coveted the cloth because it is a part of Germanic history – is believed to imply the Nazis planned to take it to BerlinÂ
1945: It was returned to Bayeux, where it has been ever since    Â
