Dan Snow’s History Hit has released a new documentary on the 1066 Battle of Stamford Bridge, after spending two years working with expert metal detectorists and a heritage society to identify the battlefield’s real location.
History Hit has been working with Simon Richardson and John Benfield alongside the Battle of Stamford Bridge Heritage Society, led by Brian Birkett, since 2024. Over the course of their investigation, they uncovered a collection of 11th-century weaponry linked to the Battle of Stamford Bridge. The discovery places the battlefield site—where King Harold of England achieved a victory over invading Norwegian Vikings and his own brother, Tostig—about one mile from its traditionally accepted location.
The investigation forms the basis for 1066—The Lost Battlefield, launched today on the History Hit SVOD platform, delivering exclusive footage of the artifacts, analysis that redraws the campaign map, and a look at the broader implications of Harold’s brief victory (he was defeated in Hastings three weeks later) leading into the Norman invasion.
The launch coincides with the opening of the British Museum’s Bayeux Tapestry this week. Later this month, History Hit will release The Bayeux Tapestry—Portrait of a Battle.
“Stamford Bridge is one of England’s most dramatic and important battles, in a year, 1066, when history changed forever,” said Snow. “Following these exciting and important discoveries up close for History Hit, seeing sword pommels and armor emerge from the earth, is a historian’s dream. Here, for the first time, is hard evidence for the location of this titanic Anglo-Viking clash.”
Simon Richardson, project lead detectorist, said, “Making these finds has been a real highlight of my metal detecting career. It took a great deal of research and hard work, but finding concrete evidence pointing to the location of such a significant battle is a breakthrough that makes all the effort worthwhile. Unearthing objects like spearheads, mail armor and the sword pommel was enormously exciting – discoveries that will hopefully make people rethink the whole story of this fascinating battle, a turning point in the history of England.”
Brian Birkett, chairman of the Battle of Stamford Bridge Heritage Society, added, “We have been interested in finding the location of the fighting for years, but uncovering hard evidence of an event that happened nearly a thousand years ago and lasted only a few hours is enormously difficult. These new discoveries by detectorists, archaeologists, and volunteers have significantly advanced that research, bringing us much closer to the events of that historic battle and revealing finds that probably haven’t seen the light of day since 1066. It all goes to show what dedicated research and careful investigation can achieve. It’s exciting that there’s still much to discover about the battle.”
