St Andrews Researchers Find ‘King Arthur’s Hall’ To Be Older

On 11 November, the University of St Andrews announced the discovery of King Arthur’s Hall on Bodmin Moor. After two years of work, St Andrews researchers have discovered that King Arthur’s Hall is not from the medieval period, and instead dates back 4,000 years earlier to the Neolithic period (ca. 7000-1700 BCE), making it as old as the Stonehenge. 

Situated in Cornwall, in South West England, King Arthur’s Hall is made up of earth and rock, consisting of 56 standing stones, some measuring up to 1.8 metres. Whilst some of these stones lean, others lie flat on the ground or are even partially buried, measuring a total of 69 by 160 feet. Classed as “at risk” by Historic England due to overgrown vegetation and the risk of erosion from visitors and livestock, the organisation currently works to protect the site. The latter is listed as an early medieval animal pen from around 1000 AD. Some questions were raised as to if the mound may have been older than thought due to some of the standing stones being integrated. This ultimately sparked the idea to go forth with conducting research. 

St Andrews was amongst a group of UK universities, including the University of Reading and Newcastle University, which took part in the research that led to this pioneering discovery. As Director of the Centre of Earth Resources at St Andrews (CERSA) and honourary Research Fellow at both St Andrews and the University of Stirling, Dr Tim Kinnaird formed a part of the project’s team. 

Having graduated with a first-class degree in Geological and Earth Sciences from the University of St Andrews in 2002, Dr Kinnaird went on to pursue a PhD at the University of Edinburgh, receiving his doctorate title in 2008. Because of his background in luminescence dating, sedimentology, and geomorphology research in the fields of earth, environmental, and natural sciences, Dr Kinnaird has since made a name for himself, contributing his expertise to projects like this one.

With funding aid from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic England, Cornwall Council, and Cornwall Heritage Trust, the project started in 2022, when volunteers joined researchers working on behalf of the Cornwall Archaeological Unit (CAU). Researchers took samples from the site, including pollen, insects, and parasite eggs, which were then radiocarbon-dated. The results, alongside those from other dating techniques such as Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL), helped corroborate the monument’s being five times older than previously thought. 

With regards to the findings, Dr Kinnaird said: “It’s extremely exciting that we’ve finally been able to date construction of this enigmatic monument previously grounded in myths and legends.” 

James Gossip from the CAU commented: “Knowing when King Arthur’s Hall was built will help us understand this unique monument form better, how it might have originally been used and how it could have been used over time.” He also shed light on the importance of the discovery to help uncover whether the site was used as an animal pound or reservoir and if the stones were placed at the time of building or later on. 

Moreover, Dr Rob Batchelor, Director of Quest, an archaeological unit from the University of Reading, said: “The wild, remote landscape of Bodmin Moor has inspired centuries of legends, but this extraordinary new finding shows how science can help deliver stories that are just as intriguing. Further analysis of these sediment cores may yet reveal more about what our Cornish ancestors were doing there and their impact on the local environment.” 

Going forward, the next stages of the research will involve further investigation into the monument within the context of the prehistoric landscape, along with other significant structures on the moor.

Photo from University of St Andrews