King Arthur and Excalibur’s last resting place?

According to the author Graham Philips the ruins outside the town of Wroxeter which is close to the town of Shrewsbury here in the U.K are one of the foremost contenders to the claim of being the place known as Camelot. These ruins Roman ruins which were known as Viroconium can be traced back to the time of King Arthur, and back then it would have been the most important city in the country, this then points to this being the place where King Arthur would have resided back in around 500AD.

Records show that the King who ruled here was named Owain Ddantgwyn, however according to a monk named Gildas who wrote around the time in question he was also known by his battle name, Ursus, meaning The Bear and according to Welsh dictionaries and the Brythonic language spoken at that time, Bear means Arth, so it is no stretch of the imagination to conclude that the name Arth over time has become known as Arthur.

If this circumstantial evidence is correct then we can work out where King Arthur’s burial is as there is a known record of where the Kings of Viroconium were laid to rest.

Records show that this place was known as the churches of Basa, Graham Philips through his own research discovered that in all probability this would suggest that the nearby village of Baschurch would be the most likely candidate. A short way from the centre of Baschurch can be found a hill fortification known as the Berth which dates back to Arthur’s time and also at the base of the hill can be found a piece of land known as “Travail’s Acre”, which if the records are correct identifies the spot where Arthur is said to have been buried.

Graham organised a geophysical survey of the area which uncovered the fact that in the centre of this acre of land a pit had been dug which was six foot deep and circular which is in keeping with the style of burial back in 500AD. Also a central boss from the remains of a shield were discovered which also is in keeping with the fact that shields were buried with the deceased back then.

Another fact that supports the theory that Owain was Arthur is that his Father’s battle name was Terrible Head Dragon, when this is translated into Brythonic it becomes Uther Pendragon and in the Arthur Romances Uther Pendragon is Arthur’s Father.

Moving on to the story regarding Excalibur, when Arthur was dying he asked one of his Knights to throw the sword into the lake and the Lady of the Lake is said to have caught Excaliber. Historically at the time of King Arthur the Celtic people would very often as part of a funeral rite throw the sword of an important warrior into a sacred lake or pool as an offering to the Water Goddess known as Viviane. This is thought to be how the story of the Lady of the Lake originated.

What is interesting to note that right next to this hill fort known as the Berth and Travail’s Acre can be found a lake which is known as the Berth pool. Graham organised a marine survey of the site but unfortunately due to lack of visibility underwater the results were inconclusive, however a metal object which could be the sword in question was detected around 4 feet below the accumulated silt on the bottom of the lake, could this be the mythical sword named Excalibur. Probably the only way to determine this is if the lake was drained, until that day happens this will still remain an unsolved mystery.