A community group from Northumberland, Great Britain, managed to find a 700-year-old chapel near the medieval manor of Aldensheles in January.
The 100-person-strong Coquetdale Community Archaeology (CCA) group started up their explorations of local historical sites back in 2011, and recently revealed their latest, incredible discovery, according to the Northumberland Gazette.
“To date we have worked on a 14th-century building that was probably a farmhouse, a grain-drying kiln and a set of much-damaged medieval remains that had been repurposed in the 17th century, probably for stock management,” CCA chair David Jones told the outlet. “Every year we found items that did not belong in an upland farming community. Typically these were blocks of decorated stone that were almost certainly ecclesiastical in origin. Some of them were too large to have come far.”
Back in 2022, the group found a piece of colored glass, which they believe must have come from continental Europe. “Through lots of archive research we discovered that the site we were studying had been on a medieval manor called Aldensheles, and that there had been a chapel on that manor in the early 14th century,” Jones continued.
Coquetdale Community Archaeology has won the prestigious National Parks Volunteer Project of the Year Award 2018, an accolade which recognises and celebrates the contribution of outstanding volunteers working across the 15 National Parks in the UK. https://t.co/mFyP7AxZBx pic.twitter.com/JoYePCsPdL
— Fusion PR (UK) (@FusionPR_UK) November 20, 2018
Historic England gave the group permission to scan the area to collect LiDAR data — this means the grounds could be surveyed without being physically disturbed. Similar techniques are used deep in the jungles of South and Central America to find ancient cultural ruins.
After finding the chapel, members of the group also found a Latin letter in the National Archives in London that mentions the structure, the outlet noted. (RELATED: Scans Reveal Serious Hidden Threats Under Yellowstone National Park)
The entire story is the makings of a feel-good British film, perhaps starring some of the country’s most beloved actors. Sure, a film about some folks finding a chapel might not sound like fun, but I can’t even begin to imagine how comedic it could be with the right writer. And perhaps the publicity would inspire more community archaeology groups to find pieces of forgotten British history, which would be a truly wonderful thing.