October
26
899 King Alfred the Great died in Wessex. The actual year is not certain,
but the year 901 as stated in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is suspect. How he died
is unknown. He was originally buried temporarily in the Old Minster in
Winchester, then moved to the New Minster. When the New Minster moved to Hyde,
a little north of the city, in 1110, the monks transferred to Hyde Abbey along
with Alfred's body and those of his wife and children. Soon after the
dissolution of the abbey in 1539, during the reign of Henry VIII, the church
was demolished, leaving the graves intact. The royal graves and many others
were probably rediscovered by chance in 1788 when a prison was being
constructed by convicts on the site. Coffins were stripped of lead, bones were
scattered and lost, and no identifiable remains of Alfred have subsequently
been found. Further excavations in 1866 and 1897 were inconclusive.
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