Thursday 16th April: Irish Centre, Newcastle
Post by Rannoch Daly
Archaeologist Roger Miket, who has long been intimately involved with research into the site of the Northumbrian royal township of Yeavering, in Glendale, Northumberland, spoke about his new book:
‘AD GEFRIN: Brian Hope-Taylor and his Quest for the Early Medieval Kingdom of Northumbria’.
Brian Hope-Taylor is best known for his excavations in the 1950s of the 6th or 7th century site at Yeavering, Known as Ad Gefrin (See his book ‘YEAVERING’ HMSO 1977). The site is celebrated in the Museum and Visitor Centre at the Ad Gefrin Distillery, Wooler, Northumberland.
During WWII Hope-Taylor was based at Medmenham, Bucks, the RAF centre for aerial photographic interpretation, assessing targets and bomb damage. One of the lessons learned from these experiences was that other things could also be spotted in aerial photographs, including markings in fields that looked like possible archaeological remains. At Medmenham he established productive working relationships with the future distinguished archaeologists Dorothy Garrod and Glyn Daniel, as well as the actor Dirk Bogarde. Incidentally, he also realised that mine detectors could be used to find ancient metal artefacts, thereby pre-figuring the modern archaeological ‘detectorists’.
Whilst working on various excavations after the war Hope-Taylor gradually formed the view that markings in fields near Wooler evident in aerial photographs might be the site beside the River Glen where, according to Bede, Paulinus had baptised the subjects of King Edwin, who ruled Northumbria from 616 to 637 AD (BEDE Ecclesiastical History Book II.14; Penguin 1968). After much lobbying and persuading of the academic and governmental authorities about funding, and some delicate discussions with the landowner, a local farmer, about access, Hope-Taylor’s excavations ran from 1953 to 1962. Most of his report was written up at the time but it was not published till 1977. It is now recognised as the pre-eminent work of post-war British archaeology.
The illustration below (B H-T’s Fig 63) shows the site of the Great Enclosure to the east, the main axis with the king’s hall (red) leading towards the rostrum and triangular tiered theatre in the centre and further buildings to the west. There are cemeteries in the east and west.
Miket and the Ad Gefrin Trust now have access to the site and have been excavating in the 2020s with modern techniques to elaborate on, and sometimes revise, the original findings. Miket has also had access to Hope-Taylor’s personal archive of photographs, documents and correspondence and the relevant files of the Ministry of Public Building and Works. In his book Miket uses these to tell the story of how this remarkable man made his remarkable discoveries about early Northumbria. Miket’s book is published by the Ad Gefrin Trust and can be purchased from the Ad Gefrin Centre, Wooler.
Next Meeting: 6.00pm 7 May 2026
Topic: Max Adams and others present ‘Boundaries, routes and sculptured stones in early medieval Scotland’.