Battle of Hatfield Investigation Society

Hello and sorry for the lack of site news recently.

Since our last meeting of the 29th May, progress by the Battle of Hatfield Investigation Society ("BOHIS") and Mercian has been achieved in the following areas :

1/ Having already submitted our claim for £1,000, we've provided the Council for British Archaeology (C.B.A.) with a supportive official letter and we believe that we will have the money next week (w/c 21st July) - so that is great news.

2/ The Diocese have our application (via the Parochial Church Council (P.C.C.)) and have further asked for supportive letters which they now possess. Hence, we await their final decision regarding Non invasive (Ground Penetrating Radar to determine the site of the skeletons) and Invasive work at St. Mary's Church, Cuckney.

3/ Joseph has been to Meden School again, continuing our engagement with the local community regarding their involvement in future events. In addition, they have also furnished a letter of support for our project.

4/ Mercian (our archaeological company) are digging 4 test pits near the centre of Edwinstowe to help determine the age of the village (this week and next). I spent Tuesday (15th July) helping at one of the pits (dug in someone's nice back garden but with full permission !). It will be interesting to see if they can reveal signs of an early Saxon settlement.

5/ Immediately after the Edwinstowe event, Mercian are also excavating the supposed site of St. Edwin's Chapel where Edwin is said to have been temporarily buried after the Battle of Hatfield by his surviving troops.

The earliest mention of this chapel was in 1201 A.D. .

The body (maybe excluding the head) is then said to have been reburied at Whitby Abbey. Edwin's head was possibly detached from his body by Cadwallon and some literature says it was displayed on York's ramparts as proof of his defeat (and then possibly buried at or near the site of York Minster).

It would be very exciting if the Chapel was pinpointed and evidence dated it to the 7th century as it would indicate that the Battle of Hatfield was likely to have occurred at Cuckney. Joseph and I will also be attending that excavation and I will keep you promptly informed of Mercian's progress.

Alternatively, you can keep up with their specific progress over the next few weeks at /www.facebook.com/sherwoodforesthistory

or generally at  /www.facebook.com/Mercianarch

6/ We are genuinely now very close to submitting our Heritage Lottery Fund (H.L.F.) bid. We now have a (required) additional supporting letter from an independent archaeologist and have completed about 80% of our claim document. As the main source of funding is likely to come from this area, we want to get the application right first time, as an amended / corrected application would mean another two months before H.L.F. re-consideration.

This is now our top priority.

We will endeavour to complete the H.L.F. form by the end of next week (25th July). 

7/ We have investigated a lead regarding photos that may have been taken by a local Warsop family of the skeletons uncovered by the 1950 /51 excavations at St. Mary's.Unfortunately, the family have not yet discovered such evidence.

Thanks for your continued interest and support and feel free to get in touch if you have any leads regarding the excavation photos as they would generate some welcome publicity for our cause !