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Summary

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In view of what we known of Anglo-Saxon buildings, and of Brian Hope-Taylor's excavations on the genuine palace site, it is probably safe to say that the present building has no connection with King Edwin. That is not to say it is of no archaeological importance; although heavily altered, it may be a rare or even unique, survival of a defensible house of a type that more genuinely merits the term 'pele' than the many others to which the word is applied. If Tomlinson's account is correct, then it would appear to have been a building transitional in form between a timber-framed and a stone structure, where the timber-frame provided the main structural support, and the rough rubble masonry, possibly unmortared, a substantial barrier and defense against fire. A building of similar hybrid construction, although of superior status and set in a quite different social context, was the hunting lodge of the Bosvile family at Oxspring in South Yorkshire (Ryder, Post-Medieval Archaeology XIX, 1985, 49-62). Oxspring Lodge was of mid-16th century date; the Yeavering building, if its omission from the 1541 list was not simply an oversight, must be almost contemporary with it.

The above description and plan was made on the basis of a rather cursory examination; the interior of the building is much encumbered by farm equipment. As there was clearly some antiquarian interest in the building last century, documentary searches might produce some illustrations or drawings of it prior to more recent alterations; however, the structure itself merits a proper archaeological examination, possibly involving the removal of recent harling and plaster from its walls, in the hope of recording remains of the timber framework. Although the south wall has been partly rebuilt in recent years, it seems reasonably to suppose that some evidence of the frame will survive on the north side of the building. Some limited excavations -- inside the building to check floor levels, outside against the south wall to ascertain original ground levels, and to assess the nature of the 'barmkin' -- could also shed valuable light on the site. The archaeology and history of the Glen valley -- spanning Pre-Roman times, the Dark Age palaces and the Border troubles of the later medieval period -- are an important cultural resource; drawing on these topics, and on the inherent interest of the building itself, 'King Edwin's Palace' (perhaps renamed: Old Yeavering Pele House?) could be ably utilised as an interpretative centre for the area.

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