Conny Waters – AncientPages.com – Archaeologists have unearthed what they believe to be the largest Viking Age building found in Britain. Teams of volunteers discovered the Viking Age structure at High Tarns Farm in Silloth in Cumbria.
Archaeologists have suggested that the area may have once been a medieval manor farm. Credit: Grampus Heritage & Training
“We have now received the carbon dates from the Grampus-led excavations at High Tarns in Cumbria, funded by Defra through Solway Coast National Landscape’s Farming in Protected Landscapes program,” archaeologist Mark Graham of Grampus Heritage said in a press statement.
Carbon dating of a timber building they discovered suggested it was a “large hall of the late-Viking age”, Graham said.
“Dating the timber building to the late 10th or early 11th century shows that it significantly predates and is unrelated to the Cistercian monastery of Holme Cultram. This dating allows us to interpret the building as a large hall from the late Viking Age. Even more exciting, this is the largest Viking Age building discovered and excavated in Britain,” the archaeologist said.
Volunteers were happy to have made such a significant discovery. Credit: Grampus Heritage & Training
“The significance of this discovery in shedding light on the early medieval period and social structure in rural Cumbria and beyond is immense. Considering the hall’s impressive scale, along with the charcoal production pit, grain dryer, and other features identified through geophysics yet to be excavated, it is likely the hall was the focus of an early medieval Manor Farm.
Excavation at the site. Credit: Grampus Heritage & Training
I use the term “Manor Farm” as applied to high-status Viking Age farms in Denmark, as it encompasses not only the hall but also the social structure and broader agricultural activity associated with such a site.
Part of the structure. Credit: Grampus Heritage & Training
Although we lack cultural material from the excavation, we must look to Scandinavia for comparative examples. Viking Age heritage in Cumbria, sometimes called “Anglo-Scandinavian” culture, is well documented.
Plugs from the base of a metalworking furnace. Credit: Grampus Heritage & Training
Our region has Scandinavian place names, dialects, Viking burials, and a wealth of sculptures from the period in older church sites. The hogback stones found at several church sites in Cumbria depict large high-status halls.
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Despite the strong cultural influence from Scandinavia during the Viking Age in Cumbria, the absence of buildings from the period in the archaeological record is often attributed to later buildings being constructed atop settlement sites. This is almost certainly true, as a good place to build and live remains attractive.
Credit: Grampus Heritage & Training
This underlines the significance of High Tarns, where we have found the complete footprint of a building from the late Viking Age,” Graham added.
Graham told the BBC it was a remarkable discovery.
“You really do not find much archaeology from that period [the Viking age] in our county,” he said.
“It’s a big gap in our knowledge.”
A full excavation report would be released “in due course”, Graham informed
Written by Conny Waters – AncientPages.com Staff Writer
