A church plans to exhume the a grave in a bid to find the final resting place of King Aflred the Great and solve one of Hampshire's great mysteries.
But who was the king and why is he such a part of English heritage.
Here is a brief history of the famous king and his mystery.
- c849 Born in Wantage, Berkshire, the youngest son of King Ethelwulf
- 871 Succeeds to the throne aged about 21
- 871 Led the army that defeated the Danes at Ashdown
- 872 London falls to the invaders
- 876 The Danes advance and Alfred hides in the Somerset marshes where he reputedly burns the cakes of a peasant woman
- 878 decisive victory over the Danes at Edington in Wiltshire n 870s Established fortified towns including Winchester
- 884 Alfred defeats Danes at Rochester
- 886 Peace made with the Danes; Alfred takes over London n 890 Permanent army and navy founded
- 891 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle started
- 896 Naval victory over the Danes in the Solent
- 899 October 26, Alfred dies, aged 50.
- He is initially buried in the old minster before relocation to Hyde Abbey in 1100.
- 1780s Alfred’s bones dug up from under Hyde Abbey
- 1867 Archaeologist John Mellor claims to have re-found Alfred’s bones.
- Bones reinterred 200 yards away by St Bartholomew’s church
- Early 1990s BT workmen accidentally find the foundations of Hyde Abbey near River Park Leisure Centre
- 1997-99 Excavations discover extent of church, but no Alfred
- 2003 Hyde Abbey Garden, designed by landscape architect Kim Wilkie, opened marking the site of Alfred’s grave
- 2007 The lighting, the final phase of the garden, is opened by Alan Titchmarsh
- 2010 Hyde 900 hold festival to mark the anniversary of Alfred’s burial at Hyde Abbey in 1100. It includes hundreds of people in a procession from cathedral to Hyde Abbey
- 2012 Preparations start to secure permission for the exhumation
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