Students from King's Old School Unearth 1,000-Year-Old Viking Church!

A group of ambitious students from Gordonstoun, the Scottish private school once attended by King Charles III, have made an extraordinary archaeological discovery. During a recent field trip to Swona, a small, uninhabited island in the Orkney archipelago, they unearthed the remains of what is believed to be a 1,000-year-old Viking church.

Working alongside professional archaeologists from the Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (Orca), the students and staff spent six days on the remote island. They lived simply, staying in an abandoned house without electricity and relying on water pumped from an ancient well, immersing themselves fully in the spirit of exploration.

The building, thought to be a church, shows striking similarities to other Viking churches dating back to the 10th and 11th centuries.

The remains of the ancient structure, including what archaeologists suspect to be the foundation for its altar, were found beneath a more recent building on the island.

This intriguing find offers a rare glimpse into the Viking era in Scotland.

Samples taken by the pupils will now undergo radiocarbon dating, which is expected to provide more conclusive evidence regarding the medieval structure's age and origins.

The expedition to Swona was meticulously organized by Dan McLean, a housemaster at Gordonstoun. McLean revealed that the initial clue to the church's existence was a map reference to a ruin locally known as the “Twinly Kirk.” While initial observations suggested the remaining walls belonged to a more modern structure, a test pit dug with the archaeologists, and subsequent clearing of overgrown weeds, revealed a crucial step just below the surface, leading to where the altar would have been.

Further clues supporting its Viking-era origins include its unique construction method, layout, and orientation, particularly its dry stone build.

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