To the north of the Wooler to Kirknewton road, in a lay-by with the bulk of Yeavering Bell to the south, stands the Gefrin monument.

The plaque tells us this was the site of Gefrin, but we look upon an empty field. Some sheep graze peacefully.

Yet this is the site of, probably, one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the century.

St. Bede in his Historia Ecclesiastica gives the township of Ad Gefrin its only real historical reference. Even then he is vague as to its actual location, saying only that it stands near to the river Glen in what is now known as the Glendale area.

He links Ad Gefrin with the baptisms performed in the Glen by the missionary Paulinus in 627AD.

In the thirteen centuries that have passed since, according to Bede, the palace was abandoned and with no visible evidence for its existence, Ad Gefrin became a place of legend.

In 1949 Dr. J.K.St.Joseph, Curator in Aerial Photography at Cambridge University was looking for previously unknown Roman military sites in northern England. A severe drought made conditions ideal for aerial archaeology. As he flew over the Glendale area he noticed, and photographed, an impressive series of crop marks in an otherwise innocent field. More crop marks were seen further north near Milfield. In time a full aerial survey was made.

Between 1953 and 1962 a detailed archaeological excavation to the site was undertaken led by Brian Hope-Taylor of Cambridge University. Although marks of buildings were observed to both the north and south of the present day road it was in the field to the north of the road where attention was focussed. Here the land rises and forms a gravel whaleback which would have stood clear of the marshy terrain present in the area when Gefrin was conceived. This area would have been the natural through route for travelers at the time. Today, with efficient field drainage, the Milfield. plain is a lot dryer than it once was.

The excavations revealed a complex of great halls or palaces, some over eighty five feet in length, of timber construction and built to a very high standard. Ancillary buildings such as kitchens, a weaving shed and buildings with probable religious significance were identified. The palace complex was designed to accomodate elements of the earlier landscape notalbly two burial monuments and the Great Enclosure.

The Great Enclosures prime function is thought to have been as a kraal for cattle brought to the site perhaps as taxation or to be consumed during feasts. It is equally possible that it's use was related to horses. Enormous quantities of horse bones, including complete skeletons, were found outside the main entrance during the construction of the railway in 1885.

A large timber theatre or outdoor assembly building is one of the remarkable features of the site. The graphic here is adapted from an illustration by Brian Hope-Taylor. Although referred to as 'The Theatre' you will note from the size of, what would be, the stage that this was, in all probability, the seventh century equivalent of a modern lecture theatre, perhaps a parliament building.

The King and his retinue would move around the kingdom staying at a number of settlements like Ad Gefrin. Sprowston and Thirlings may be other local examples. Ad Gefrin, though, seems to have been of particular importance and, apparantly, became the centre of Bishop Paulinus' mission in Bernicia.

Although there is evidence of older, Neolithic, remains on the site (burials and traces of a stone circle) it is thought work on Gefrin could have started in around 600AD. The site was in use for over 150 years and there were distinct phases of construction, the theatre, for example, being extended at one point from six to nine rows of seats, thereby doubling it's capacity. Some of the halls were modified and some demolished entirely. There is evidence the buildings had been attacked, destroyed by fire and rebuilt on two seperate occasions.

The diagram below illustrates the extent of the site in relation to the modern road. The building labeled Main Hall was, in this phase of the site, connected with King Edwin of Northumbria and a full size replica is due to be built at Bede's World at Jarrow.

'...and we took our places at the banquet table. There was singing and excitment: an old reciter, a carrier of stories, recalled the early days. At times some hero made the timbered harp tremble with sweetness, or related true and tragic happenings; at times the king gave the proper turn to some fantastic tale, or a battle scarred veteran, bowed with age, would begin to remember the martial deeds of his youth and prime and be overcome as the past welled up in his wintry heart.'

Beowulf (Heaney 1999)

There is still an immense amount to be found in the area around the sites investigated by Brian Hope Taylor in his extraordinary ten year project North of the Wooler to Kirknewton road. Aerial photographs clearly show evidence of rectangular structures to the South of the road. Topologically the existing road bisects the potential Ad Gefrin site. We are still on the threshold of what this site contains. I have to quote Brian Hope-Taylor...