HAROLD'S FIELD

The uneven ground south of Portskewett Church is shown on some older maps as "Harold’s Field".

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in 1065 Earl Harold of Wessex, having defeated Gruffydd ap Llywelyn and conquered areas around Hereford and down the Wye, and was in the process of constructing a building on the site which he could use as a base for hunting when it was attacked and destroyed by a force under Caradog ap Gruffydd, King of Gwent.

Harold never had the opportunity to take his revenge; in January 1066 he became king of England, and later that year was killed at the Battle of Hastings. Archaeologists consider it likely that the hunting lodge would have been built on the same site as Caradog Freichfras' earlier court.

A geophysical survey carried out at the end of 2005 revealed extensive remains in the area. In May 2007, an excavation was carried out for the Channel 4 TV programme Time Team, broadcast on 30 March 2008. The excavation revealed that a Norman fortified tower house had existed on the site, probably contemporaneous with the nearby church, and reached by a creek off the Severn. However, no conclusive evidence was found of a Saxon building, which would have been built of wood.