Winchester Festival of Archaeology digs up the past

Visitors to the 2024 Winchester Festival of Archaeology, put on by Hyde900 in conjunction with Hampshire Cultural Trust, had the opportunity of stepping back into medieval times.

They had the chance to recreate tiles based on the patterns of those found over the seven years of the Hyde900 community digs, or to dress up as the monk who used to affix the abbot’s seal to important documents.

READ MORE: Merger for Hyde Abbey charities in Winchester that hailed King Alfred

Recreations of ancient tiles (Image: Hyde900)

The tile and seal making were very popular with visitors of all ages over the weekend beginning Saturday, July 20, with more than 50 tiles made and 25 seals produced.

The calligraphy event was enjoyed by amateur scribes, who wanted to continue beyond the hour allocated. The finds display set out in chronological order was appreciated, giving a historical perspective to what was found during the digs.

There was also a talk by former cathedral archaeologist Dr John Crook, entitled I have a monk at the bottom of my garden, which revealed to an enthusiastic audience just how much the Hyde900 community digs have contributed to understanding of the abbey, the final known resting place of Alfred the Great.

SEE MORE: Hyde 900 excavation in Winchester hailed as extraordinary by Prof Martin Biddle

A first for community involvement was the creation of a replica of the Abbot of Hyde’s seal of 1537. The original document and seal are in the archives of Winchester College.

Winchester College's archivist Suzanne Foster said: “I was delighted to help Hyde900 develop stamps to enable participants to the festival make replicas of the seal. The seals they made were amazingly accurate reproductions of the seal attached to the lease.”

Seal makers then had their leases signed by the stand-in abbot, Steve Marper.

Hyde900’s next event will be at St Bartholomew’s church in Hyde as part of
Winchester’s Heritage Open Days on September 14-15.