King Cnut's manor

Digging up the living room
The Prebendal Manor House is situated in the centre of Nassington village opposite the church. This fantastic 13th-century building has even earlier origins. Local chronicles suggest that the present manor may well have been the site of an earlier Saxon manor, which at one time belonged to the estate of one of England's most famous kings, Cnut. Time Team is here to try to uncover something of that earlier history, and the Team is doing it in a way it hasn't tried before: by digging up somebody's living room!

Post holes and beam slots
Previous work in the manor had discovered some large postholes, which were thought to be a part of a Saxon hall. Time Team started by digging up the floor of the house to try to find additional remains that could indicate the size of the hall and highlight any special alignments between features.

Modern concrete and Victorian tiled floors were lifted – with the help of some heavy-duty mechanical equipment – to reveal an earthen floor packed with features. Further excavation revealed the features to be a mass of postholes, beam slots and foundation trenches. Large postholes associated with an early Saxon hall were found to have been cut into by later beam slots and foundation trenches. This supported the theory that two or more phases of construction had occurred on the site.

Pottery fit for a king?
Further trenches were excavated outside the manor house to try to locate associated buildings. These produced few finds, apart from some limited evidence for structures in Carenza's trench. It was thought that later landscaping had removed any evidence that may once have been there.

Pottery expert Dr Paul Blinkhorn managed to identify two main concentrations of pottery use in the early 11th and 13th centuries AD. These were thought to have been associated with the construction and demolition of the Saxon hall. These dates fitted well with the King Cnut story and helped to date the features found inside the manor. The prize find was a small sherd of 11th-century Rhineland pottery thought to have been of very high status. Fit for a King?

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