Project Update - September 2026

The report from the 1986 archaeological survey of St. Andrew's Church, Ashingdon did not give us any new information. However, Historic England's references to 'battle relics' have been followed up. Anne Roper of the Kent Archaeological Society wrote about Ashingdon in the 1950s and noted a Cnut penny, links of mail, and shield rivets had been found in a grave in the churchyard. The Cnut penny is well known, but the other items are new to us, and worth further investigation.

Two more mortar samples were taken from St. Botolph's Church, Hadstock, and sent to the USA for carbon dating of any charcoal therein. One sample contained no charcoal, but the other was dated to 951-1034 (95% probability). With the addition of the age of the wood used, this is likely to still contain the year 1020 when Cnut had the Minster for Assandun built. We are now trying to pull together all of the different dating exercises carried out at St. Botolph's and will publish an analysis for review.

We have published a paper on the "Meaning of Assandun" on our publications page. We will also add the slides to the presentation at the Battlefields Trust East Anglia Study Day on 3rd October 2026.

We continue to look for funding for future investigations and surveys in both the Ashingdon-Canewdon area, and the Ashdon-Hadstock area. We are still in the early stages of looking at Ashen as a potential area for the Battle.