King Alfred the Great’s remains could be under car park

By the Editorial Team · Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Historian Graham Phillips suggests that King Alfred the Great’s remains may lie beneath a modern-day car park in Winchester, based on 18th-century documents indicating his bones were moved from Hyde Abbey grounds. This discovery, reminiscent of King Richard III’s burial site beneath a parking lot, could reshape understanding of Alfred’s final resting place pending archaeological verification.

The remains of King Alfred the Great, the first monarch credited with uniting England, may be buried beneath a car park, according to historian Graham Phillips. Alfred’s final resting place has been uncertain for centuries, leading to ongoing speculation about the location of his bones.

Alfred died in 899 and was initially interred at Winchester Cathedral. In 1110, his remains were moved to Hyde Abbey in Winchester, where he was laid to rest before the high altar alongside his wife and son. However, the abbey was demolished during the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539, and its exact burial sites became obscured over time.

In 1866, remains found during excavation at the Hyde Abbey site were believed to belong to Alfred and were reburied at nearby St Bartholomew’s Church. Yet, carbon dating performed on the bones in 2013 revealed they dated from more than 200 years after Alfred’s death, indicating they could not be his.

Phillips has been investigating the whereabouts of Alfred’s remains for 13 years, uncovering historical documents and maps that suggest the bones were moved again in the late 18th century. His research points to activities around 1788 when a prison was constructed near the abbey grounds. During this time, the area where the graves were thought to be located was converted into a garden for the prison warden’s house.

Phillips found references to prisoners working on landscaping the warden’s garden who reportedly uncovered bones that were subsequently reburied in a nearby location. This information comes from an 1800 article by historian Henry Howard, who had obtained a plan of the abbey ruins and documented the discoveries.

The precise location Phillips identifies is approximately 20 yards from the garden previously believed to contain Alfred’s remains, and it corresponds to a car park today. He draws a parallel to the discovery of King Richard III’s remains in 2012, which were also found beneath a Leicester car park.

Details of Phillips’s findings are set to be presented on the program Weird Britain, airing on Blaze TV. While his investigation offers a new perspective on the mystery of Alfred’s burial site, further archaeological confirmation would be required to definitively identify the remains as those of the historic king.

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