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A Monument Celebration Week Event 2022 Brought to you by the Monumental Improvement Project What is King Arthur’s Hall? In September 2022, the Cornwall National Landscape’s (AONB) Monumental Improvement project...
In September 2022, the Cornwall National Landscape’s (AONB) Monumental Improvement project worked with the Cornwall Archaeological Unit to conduct an excavation of King Arthur’s Hall, an at-risk Scheduled Monument on Bodmin Moor. The team, supported by volunteers, carried out a small investigative excavation in order to understand more about the age of this enigmatic site which will ultimately help to inform its future management.
Specialist teams and volunteers dug a small trench near the entrance to King Arthur’s Hall to examine the bank and the adjacent leat system, using Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating to try and determine when it was built. Pollen, peat and water samples were also taken and the standing stones inside the Hall examined in order to discover more about the construction and use of the Monument in the past.
The Cornwall Archaeological Unit team captured a video diary of the 10 day excavation to share the work of the volunteer and specialists involved in this exciting project. See what they got up to below!
Thursday 15 September 2022
After years of planning, the excavation team arrived onsite at King Arthur’s Hall to start digging the main trench and test pits.
Friday 16 September 2022
The excavation of the main trench continued and the team began exploring one of the fallen stones inside the Hall.
Saturday 17 September 2022
The sun was shining as the excavation continued. Our volunteers made good progress on the main trench through the bank and some interesting stone was discovered in one of the test pits to the north of the Hall.
Tuesday 20 September 2022
Work continued at King Arthur’s Hall after a few days pause to mark our respects to Queen Elizabeth II.
The stone construction of the bank was exposed and the Reading University team arrived to take some promising pollen samples.
Wednesday 21 September 2022
The Historic England team stopped by to check on progress and the final preparations were made ahead of the team arriving at the weekend to carrying out the Optically Stimulated Luminescence Dating (OSL).
Saturday 24 September 2022
The good weather finally broke and we had our first patch of rain at King Arthur’s Hall.
James carried out some survey work with his GPS kit and got to work drawing the site ahead of the final day of the excavation.
Sunday 25 September 2022
Our specialist team arrived to carry out the OSL. This process measures the time since sediments were last exposed to the light and therefore will hopefully give us a good indication of when the Hall was constructed.
With all the recording complete, the team got to work backfilling the main trench and the test pits around King Arthur’s Hall. These will be monitored in the coming months and any additional soil which didn’t make its way back into the pits will be added once they banks have had time to settle.
Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating was used to test and examine material from the section dug through the bank and into soils buried beneath it to determine when the structure was built. Dating from the OSL analysis indicates the structure was constructed in the later fourth millennium BC (Neolithic Period) meaning the original construction of the banks was over 5000 years ago.
In addition, samples were taken from the interior of the monument to establish the presence of fossil plant and animal remains such as pollen, seeds, insects, and parasite eggs within the sediment. These core samples were radiocarbon dated and revealed that the infilling of the monument began in the Later Prehistoric (2,000 – 2,500 years ago) and medieval dates (500 – 1000 years ago) for monument activities that affected the marshy interior of the enclosure.
These activities, which might have included use as a pound and then as a reservoir used in tin streamworking, were probably quite different from those intended by the enclosure’s first builders thousands of years before.
Geological examination of the orthostats (standing stones) on the interior of the monument were also taken and suggests that they came from within 250m of the site and were possibly dug out from the interior rather than from a distant tor.
Confirmation of the monument’s original construction within the Neolithic period will help the Monumental Improvement project team, Historic England and many others to better understand the site. As a unique and ancient site, it needs very special care and attention to preserve its significance for future generations to enjoy.
A management plan for the site is being developed in partnership with Historic England, Natural England, the landowner and the Hamatethy Commoners, the first step of which has been to replace the fence surrounding the monument which had fallen into disrepair, to prevent erosion from cattle.
Cornwall National Landscape’s Monumental Improvement project will also be creating interpretation for the site to help visitors better understand its significance. This will include digital interpretation on the Cornwall National Landscape’s website so that more people can access and explore this unique piece of history.
This protected scheduled monument is at risk from erosion caused by visitors and sits within Section 12 (Bodmin Moor) of Cornwall National Landscape. Livestock is grazed on this area of the Moor and visitors must take care to follow the Countryside Code and not to disturb the monument or livestock in any way.
A huge thank you to everyone who came down to see the excavation of King Arthur’s Hall and to take part in our activity programme! It was fantastic to welcome so many of you to the site and to hear plenty of discussions around what King Arthur’s Hall might have been and when the mysterious site might have been built.
