Stocky and muscular, just over five foot, 50 – 60 years old and with evidence of multiple healed fractures, Conquest Man was buried in the private church of one of William the Conqueror’s knights, at St Peter’s in Barton on Humber, now in the care of charity English Heritage.  He was laid to rest in a coffin made from an oak tree felled in c.1079, his arms folded, head supported on a grass pillow and kept from falling sideways by two lumps of local chalk. Three apple wood staffs – grave goods in the Scandinavian tradition - were by his side. 

As the nation awaits the opening of the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition, and ahead of the Battle of Hastings re-enactment at Battle Abbey on 10 and 11 October, English Heritage along with researchers from Historic England, the Crick Institute, the British Geological Survey, University of Southampton, muVIS and FaceLab have come together to examine this man who lived through the Norman Conquest and was given a privileged burial in a Norman-owned church, a burial imbued with Scandinavian ritual.

The research process involved a series of tests on his skeleton: osteological analysis, Ancient DNA, Isotope analysis, and finally a digital facial reconstruction, which – for the very first time – brings us face to face with an everyday person who lived through the upheaval of the Norman Conquest. 

The results reveal a fascinating picture of mixed heritage. His DNA suggests substantial ancestry from continental Europe, while his burial included objects and practices associated with Scandinavian traditions. The oxygen levels in one of his teeth are consistent with time spent in a cold climate as an adolescent, while the strontium levels are more compatible with the area closer to Barton on Humber. 

Kevin Booth, English Heritage Head Curator of Collections, who coordinated the study explains:

“I’ve been fascinated by this individual – this man of the Conquest - for twenty years.  Who was he, what did he experience, could he have been at the Battle of Hastings, what sort of person might he have been?  With this new analysis, it feels like we can really get close to him.  To be able to now look at his face is to feel we can almost speak to him.

“More than that, it makes us think of his role at the time of the Conquest – his loyalties and anxieties. The classic way of understanding the Battle of Hastings is binary; ‘them and us’.  But what Conquest Man illustrates is so much richer than that.  We don’t know if he was ‘Saxon’ or ‘Norman’.  He may have been neither - a man of continental, Scandinavian influences - but then, what many of us don’t realise, is that this was true for both ‘sides’ at the Battle. By the 11^th century, we were an Anglo-Scandinavian nation, and there was a similarly strong Scandinavian influence in Normandy. Anglo, Scandinavian and Norman interests were closely connected.  

“He’s a fascinating survivor of a cataclysmic period in history, born in the reign of Viking King Cnut, he survived the Norman Conquest to be buried with honour next to a pre-Conquest church, part of the new Norman world.

“It seems to me his legacy is of survival, resilience and adaptation and I hope that by sharing his story in this way, when people go to our Battle of Hastings re-enactment or visit the Bayeux Tapestry - of course they can cheer on who they like – but maybe he can help us not to pigeonhole those who fought and died there, but to understand them as human above all.”

Human Skeletal Biologist at Historic England, Dr. Sarah Stark said:

“The science does not point to one simple homeland for this individual. Instead, his skeleton, burial, ancient DNA and isotope results suggest a man connected to the wider continental world. He may have travelled to Barton, or he may have been born locally into a community already shaped by those connections. In either case, his burial suggests that the traditions associated with him were meaningful and recognisable within the Barton community, reminding us that identity in 11th-century England was far more complex than simple categories like Saxon or Norman.”

Conquest Man can be seen at St Peter’s Church, Barton on Humber in Lincolnshire on 20 September 2026 from 12pm to 4pm.

To get a sense of what life was like for Conquest Man and his contemporaries during the Norman Conquest, Battle Abbey in East Sussex is hosting its annual reenactment of the Battle of Hastings on 10 and 11 October 2026. Hundreds of reenactors take part, recreating Norman and Saxon camps and giving visitors an insight into everyday life for people almost 1,000 years ago.

Tickets are now available from www.english-heritage.org.uk/battle

For further inspiration on the Battle of Hastings, take a look at English Heritage’s 1066 Tik Tok playlist here.