| Transcript |
| 0:00 | · | [Music] |
| 0:00 | · | the jewel in the crown |
| 0:02 | · | that sounds like a must visit |
| 0:05 | · | it's back on the road to repton in |
| 0:08 | · | derbyshire |
| 0:09 | · | [Music] |
| 0:18 | · | i know it's silly but when i visit |
| 0:20 | · | places that were |
| 0:21 | · | at the center of kind of bloody dramatic |
| 0:24 | · | events in our history even though it's |
| 0:25 | · | one thousand years ago i still feel like |
| 0:27 | · | it's blood today but of course now it |
| 0:28 | · | just feels like a lovely |
| 0:30 | · | beautiful country church yeah this sort |
| 0:32 | · | of feels like as idyllic as you can |
| 0:34 | · | guess in england doesn't it really but |
| 0:36 | · | it definitely was not like that in the |
| 0:38 | · | late 9th century |
| 0:40 | · | it was an important place not the |
| 0:42 | · | vikings obviously |
| 0:43 | · | a huge impact here but it was an |
| 0:44 | · | important place well before they arrived |
| 0:45 | · | i thought that's what they were doing |
| 0:46 | · | here i guess yeah absolutely so |
| 0:48 | · | even before the viking age this was one |
| 0:50 | · | of the most significant sites really in |
| 0:53 | · | the kingdom of mercia this was a royal |
| 0:56 | · | ecclesiastical religious |
| 0:58 | · | importance there was a very wealthy |
| 1:00 | · | monastery here dating back probably as |
| 1:02 | · | early as the seventh century does any of |
| 1:04 | · | that fabric still remain or was it all |
| 1:06 | · | smashed up by the vikings so we know |
| 1:07 | · | definitely some of it was destroyed by |
| 1:09 | · | the vikings but there is a part that |
| 1:11 | · | still remains that the crypt in this |
| 1:13 | · | most of the churches is very modern but |
| 1:15 | · | they're right still you're the only |
| 1:16 | · | person i know cat who refers to very |
| 1:19 | · | modern as the 14th century yeah well you |
| 1:21 | · | know anything after the turn of the |
| 1:23 | · | millennium is pretty much modern to me |
| 1:25 | · | which millennium yeah |
| 1:33 | · | so we're heading down to the crypt yeah |
| 1:35 | · | this is the |
| 1:36 | · | anglers that isn't crazy this is |
| 1:38 | · | anglo-saxon now these rocks here are |
| 1:39 | · | like whoa |
| 1:40 | · | so this here definitely when we're now |
| 1:43 | · | in the crypt this is all part of the |
| 1:44 | · | merchant monastery |
| 1:47 | · | amazing time travel yeah absolutely this |
| 1:50 | · | i mean this is what's so extraordinary |
| 1:51 | · | this is what was here when the vikings |
| 1:53 | · | arrived they |
| 1:54 | · | would be touching the same pillars that |
| 1:56 | · | we're touching today and that's pretty |
| 1:57 | · | unusual in britain isn't it there's not |
| 2:00 | · | much |
| 2:01 | · | stone architecture left from what the |
| 2:03 | · | well the ninth century but it's not over |
| 2:05 | · | yeah so this is this is eighth century |
| 2:07 | · | certainly possibly even before that so |
| 2:09 | · | there's not much of that at all so we |
| 2:11 | · | it's very rare in the whole country to |
| 2:13 | · | have uh evidence of that remaining this |
| 2:15 | · | is one of the most special early |
| 2:17 | · | medieval bits of architecture in in the |
| 2:19 | · | uk yeah definitely and what's really |
| 2:21 | · | nice as well as you can see things like |
| 2:22 | · | traces of paint |
| 2:24 | · | so if you if you imagine |
| 2:26 | · | yeah imagine it really vividly colored |
| 2:28 | · | full of jewels glittering gold candles |
| 2:32 | · | it must have been such an atmospheric |
| 2:35 | · | place i mean it's special today but more |
| 2:37 | · | than a thousand years ago even more so |
| 2:39 | · | and and so this is where mercy which had |
| 2:41 | · | been one of the most powerful |
| 2:43 | · | anglo-saxon kingdom for periods buried |
| 2:46 | · | its kings i mean this was the holiest |
| 2:47 | · | the holy yeah so several we know that |
| 2:49 | · | several of the uh immersion uh dynasty |
| 2:52 | · | the royal dynasty were buried here and |
| 2:54 | · | this crypt itself would have been uh |
| 2:55 | · | that mausoleum so this would have been |
| 2:57 | · | where those uh possibly in these alcoves |
| 2:59 | · | here would have had uh essentially the |
| 3:02 | · | remains of those kings and people would |
| 3:04 | · | come here as a pilgrimage somewhere to |
| 3:05 | · | visit and this was all part of the |
| 3:08 | · | bigger monastery site which is very |
| 3:10 | · | wealthy it's a double house monastery |
| 3:12 | · | for men and women and so it might have |
| 3:15 | · | been a small town around it as well so |
| 3:17 | · | this is you can't really talk about |
| 3:19 | · | things as a capital city i guess but |
| 3:20 | · | this would have been |
| 3:22 | · | one of the most important |
| 3:24 | · | religious political royal sites in mercy |
| 3:27 | · | absolutely and this would have been |
| 3:28 | · | known far and wide so a very deliberate |
| 3:31 | · | place for the vikings to attack |
| 3:33 | · | [Music] |
| 3:36 | · | so this would have been filled with all |
| 3:38 | · | sorts of riches so there'd be a lot that |
| 3:40 | · | they could take away a lot of wealth |
| 3:41 | · | here but it was much more than that it |
| 3:43 | · | was a very much a political statement |
| 3:45 | · | knowing that it was such an important |
| 3:46 | · | religious site if you come and take that |
| 3:49 | · | then you're making a really big |
| 3:51 | · | statement it's like the soviet sticky |
| 3:52 | · | neck and a hammer and sickle flag on the |
| 3:55 | · | reichstag in 1945 what amazing moment |
| 3:58 | · | we know about the viking presence here |
| 4:00 | · | thanks to extraordinary investigations |
| 4:02 | · | done here by professor martin biddle and |
| 4:04 | · | his late wife vieta shalby biddle |
| 4:09 | · | from 1974 we started to dig beside the |
| 4:12 | · | crypt and very early on we got dating |
| 4:16 | · | evidence and then we found |
| 4:18 | · | an enormous ditch |
| 4:20 | · | i mean a whopper beside |
| 4:23 | · | right beside the church and if you can |
| 4:25 | · | imagine the church was there that was |
| 4:28 | · | the angle |
| 4:29 | · | of the of the church the ditch was there |
| 4:31 | · | they were cornered a corner |
| 4:33 | · | and this was i mean this is |
| 4:35 | · | four meters deep goodness knows how wide |
| 4:38 | · | we only got part of it |
| 4:40 | · | and we started to think and we looked at |
| 4:43 | · | the kind of pottery not much that was |
| 4:45 | · | coming out of it |
| 4:46 | · | and it came to us that |
| 4:49 | · | there was only one thing this could be |
| 4:51 | · | it would be part of the viking winter |
| 4:54 | · | camp |
| 4:55 | · | of 873-4 which of course we know about |
| 4:58 | · | from the anglo-saxon chronicle |
| 5:02 | · | and martin biddling's team didn't only |
| 5:04 | · | find the ditch |
| 5:06 | · | around the church they found other |
| 5:08 | · | evidence that proves the vikings were |
| 5:10 | · | here |
| 5:11 | · | [Music] |
| 5:12 | · | so what else have you found at this site |
| 5:16 | · | so in addition to to the ditch and all |
| 5:18 | · | of that the archaeologists executing |
| 5:21 | · | here in the 1970s and 80s found a lot of |
| 5:24 | · | burials and some of them were definitely |
| 5:26 | · | scandinavian or viking burials and |
| 5:29 | · | actually they are right here and some of |
| 5:31 | · | the most important ones yeah so we're |
| 5:32 | · | just going to try and work out exactly |
| 5:34 | · | where we are so looking at |
| 5:35 | · | the map and the plan so this is the |
| 5:38 | · | church of the yes that's the crypt |
| 5:40 | · | seven and eight this is |
| 5:41 | · | right in here yeah this spot |
| 5:44 | · | that we're standing on now yeah uh is |
| 5:46 | · | probably |
| 5:47 | · | the most |
| 5:49 | · | well the best known and most significant |
| 5:51 | · | viking grave in all of england right |
| 5:53 | · | this was where we had the so-called |
| 5:55 | · | repton warrior |
| 5:57 | · | buried and a younger man next to him he |
| 6:00 | · | was buried with a loss of objects which |
| 6:03 | · | was a typical scandinavian burial |
| 6:05 | · | writers being buried with objects around |
| 6:07 | · | you uh that included a sword along |
| 6:10 | · | inside a viking sword he had a sore |
| 6:12 | · | thumb around his neck yes thor's hammer |
| 6:13 | · | is there the guys are viking precisely |
| 6:16 | · | so so that's that's the sort of most |
| 6:17 | · | obvious part of it he had lots of other |
| 6:19 | · | smaller objects but he also had some |
| 6:21 | · | really really severe injuries on his |
| 6:23 | · | body so we could be pretty confident i |
| 6:25 | · | mean it's difficult to say that this |
| 6:27 | · | idea of whether somebody's a warrior is |
| 6:29 | · | really hard even if you're bored with |
| 6:30 | · | weapons doesn't necessarily mean that |
| 6:32 | · | but the severity of his injuries he must |
| 6:35 | · | have died in battle so he was terribly |
| 6:38 | · | wounded or killed in battle and brought |
| 6:40 | · | back here to this sacred royal space to |
| 6:42 | · | be buried |
| 6:43 | · | absolutely so |
| 6:44 | · | he was here there was a young man next |
| 6:46 | · | to him and we actually now know through |
| 6:48 | · | dna analysis that they were related so |
| 6:51 | · | they were father and son |
| 6:53 | · | they were essentially buried side by |
| 6:54 | · | side and on top of them were |
| 6:57 | · | lots of |
| 6:58 | · | sort of rectangular stone setting which |
| 7:00 | · | included smashed up pieces of beautiful |
| 7:03 | · | carved anglo-saxon crosses so here you |
| 7:06 | · | have what seems to be a pagan burial |
| 7:09 | · | with weapons with thor's hammer and with |
| 7:12 | · | essentially the evidence of that smashed |
| 7:14 | · | up monastery right on top |
| 7:17 | · | anything else in the body you want to |
| 7:18 | · | tell me about |
| 7:19 | · | well there is a very i know exactly what |
| 7:21 | · | you're asking about |
| 7:23 | · | he had some quite severe injuries as i |
| 7:25 | · | said one of them was a very |
| 7:28 | · | big wound to his left femur his left |
| 7:30 | · | thigh bone uh almost certainly made by |
| 7:32 | · | an axe because it was a properly big |
| 7:34 | · | v-shaped cut but he went so |
| 7:37 | · | closely down diagonal from his left hip |
| 7:40 | · | that it's almost certain that it would |
| 7:42 | · | have cut off part of his penis as well |
| 7:45 | · | more evidence for for the likelihood of |
| 7:46 | · | that is that those who buried him |
| 7:48 | · | actually placed a boss tusk in between |
| 7:50 | · | his legs right so he could still |
| 7:54 | · | enjoy life full in the afterlife |
| 7:55 | · | presumably that was the reason and why i |
| 7:58 | · | mean it's that maps fascinating there's |
| 7:59 | · | just a cluster of burials right here |
| 8:01 | · | just outside the royal crypt what |
| 8:04 | · | statement are vikings trying to make |
| 8:05 | · | there yeah i think that's the really key |
| 8:07 | · | point here in wrapton this isn't like |
| 8:09 | · | this isn't just something that they do |
| 8:10 | · | and then move away and forget all about |
| 8:13 | · | they are using burial those funerary |
| 8:15 | · | rights as a very political statement |
| 8:17 | · | saying this is where you used to have |
| 8:20 | · | your royals your most important people |
| 8:22 | · | but now we're in control we're in charge |
| 8:25 | · | and these are our important dead so now |
| 8:27 | · | we have that link that we can show even |
| 8:30 | · | the next generations that that this is |
| 8:32 | · | now essentially scandinavian territory |
| 8:36 | · | and an even more dramatic burial is to |
| 8:38 | · | be found next door |
| 8:42 | · | so we come to the vicarage garden just |
| 8:44 | · | next the church now more evidence here |
| 8:46 | · | is there yeah so this is another one of |
| 8:48 | · | those locations in fact if you go over |
| 8:50 | · | here where one of those discoveries was |
| 8:53 | · | made in the 1980s |
| 8:55 | · | back in the 80s there was a mound here |
| 8:58 | · | okay and that mound had been known about |
| 9:00 | · | for a very long time in fact they've |
| 9:02 | · | been dug into uh by antiquarian pesky |
| 9:04 | · | antiquarians yeah absolutely their dug |
| 9:07 | · | holes into it and in fact there's a |
| 9:09 | · | record uh that dates to the 70 earlier |
| 9:12 | · | 1700s of somebody who had been asked by |
| 9:16 | · | the lady of the manor there's manohars |
| 9:17 | · | that used to be behind us here |
| 9:19 | · | to investigate hillocks in the garden |
| 9:22 | · | and this workman had dug into it and |
| 9:25 | · | found this huge deposit of bones |
| 9:28 | · | there was a central |
| 9:30 | · | uh skeleton nine foot tall surrounded by |
| 9:33 | · | the bodies of 100 humane skeletons |
| 9:36 | · | apparently but the lady of the manor was |
| 9:38 | · | so uh horrified by this that she just |
| 9:40 | · | ordered them to cover it all up again |
| 9:42 | · | back in the 1980s this was excavated |
| 9:44 | · | again this mount and and they actually |
| 9:47 | · | found that bone deposit but it was |
| 9:49 | · | inside a building so it was inside a |
| 9:51 | · | two-celled stone building which again |
| 9:54 | · | was part of that same monastery uh same |
| 9:57 | · | period that the crypt was from just |
| 10:00 | · | basically right where we're standing now |
| 10:02 | · | and it was just full of bones it was a |
| 10:04 | · | one compartment was full of bones they |
| 10:06 | · | identified almost 300 individuals all |
| 10:10 | · | crammed into that single space |
| 10:12 | · | wow and do we know that that's viking |
| 10:14 | · | era so there's quite a few clues within |
| 10:17 | · | those bones we know that they were all |
| 10:19 | · | what we call secondary deposits so they |
| 10:21 | · | were bones that were buried somewhere |
| 10:22 | · | else originally and then they were moved |
| 10:24 | · | when they turned to skeletons and put in |
| 10:26 | · | place but among the bones were also lots |
| 10:29 | · | of artifacts so there were viking |
| 10:31 | · | weapons also coins dating to the 870s so |
| 10:35 | · | precisely that winter we know the viking |
| 10:37 | · | great army was here in wreston that's |
| 10:39 | · | pretty good evidence isn't it yeah |
| 10:41 | · | that's pretty good as you go for |
| 10:42 | · | evidence is that bodies that people have |
| 10:44 | · | died on the campaign they kept them all |
| 10:46 | · | and buried them in one place this is one |
| 10:48 | · | of the big questions and i think that |
| 10:50 | · | that's what's most likely because we |
| 10:52 | · | would have had |
| 10:53 | · | hundreds maybe thousands of people dying |
| 10:56 | · | on those campaigns in battle or for |
| 10:58 | · | other reasons |
| 10:59 | · | it's likely they might have been given a |
| 11:00 | · | temporary burial somewhere at the site |
| 11:03 | · | but when they came here to repton we |
| 11:05 | · | know that they took over the whole |
| 11:07 | · | territories this was this is a long term |
| 11:09 | · | thing so i think it's quite likely that |
| 11:11 | · | they could have gone back found some of |
| 11:13 | · | those remains and taking them giving |
| 11:14 | · | them essentially a communal burial |
| 11:16 | · | somewhere like this somewhere where they |
| 11:18 | · | can say well this is this is where we've |
| 11:20 | · | settled now this is where we are to stay |
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