William the Conqueror had already survived the most dangerous years of his new reign, when English resistance was still active and the political situation still fluid.

By 1079, the new feudal order was functioning.

Norman lords controlled the major estates.

The Church in England was being reformed under Archbishop Lanfranc, appointed by William in 1070.

New buildings, including castles and churches, were being constructed across the country.

St Peter’s Church in Barton itself reflects this period.

The church’s basic Anglo-Saxon structure was already ancient by 1079, but the Norman period saw modifications and additions.

The man buried in the oak coffin around this date was interred in a building that spanned two eras: the Anglo-Scandinavian world that had preceded the Conquest, and the Norman world that was reshaping England.