European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 10, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Photo Courtesy of Graham Phillips a reconstructed roman stockade at Lunt is similar to one that would have guarded Camelot. 6hbopsidbe county new Book  another Stop to the Trail  for years Adam Hardiman drove to work by zirconium the ruins of a roman City in Shropshire county England. Little did he suspect that he was passing what possibly could have been the legendary City of Camelot. Just think of the property values he realizes later. I could have gotten a higher Price for my  the legendary Camelot just Down your Road in Shropshire at least that is the conclusion of Graham Phillips Martin Yeatman in their Book King Arthur the True Story published by Arrow books in England. 7 no longer does the Southwest of England have first gras on the legendary King in fact the hew theory has been so Well received that the town of Shrewsbury has designed a 138-mile-Long arthurian Trail for tourists so they can visit All the Sites mentioned in the Book. Hearing Phillips describe How he developed his theory is like listening to a detective piece together the evidence on a missing person s Case one that everyone else has already written off. His Book also follows this style. I tried to write it As i went along says Phillips. I had no idea what i Wolf cd find or How much was left to be found so i thought i could actually Fet people in on the discovery  actually Phillips had been researching a Book on Robin Hood when he came across his first material on King Arthur. He wondered Why anyone would bother to write that King Arthur was born in Tintagel in Cornwall when the Castle had t even been Wilt until the 11-30s. He soon found that other historians archaeologists had already discovered More plausible possibilities but that they had simply never published them. If an archaeologist Assoc Altes his name with King Arthur he explains it s like saying you believe in ufos. Arthur is too much associated with myth legend.". But having no academic title to defend although he does have a . In psychology Phillips continued on the Case he remembered the reference to Arthur in the Welsh Godi Din poem he was no Arthur but found it did t help in locating the King. However lines from another Welsh poem Canu a Lowarch Hen revealed an important clue that the Kings of Powys an area which today covers the midlands of England Central Wales were the heirs of Arthur if that were True he reasoned that meant that Arthur had been a King of Powys. Other Welsh poetry revealed d hundreds of references to Arthur in Powys All of them written much earlier than the arthurian romances set in the Southwest. Although i figured that historians would t consider Welsh poetry that mentioned Arthur to be real historical evidence says Phillips it did show that the legends traditions of Arthur existed in Central England before they took hold elsewhere in the country. Surely he existed he would More Likely be from that area further research led him to the ruins of zirconium in nearby Wroxeter which during roman times had been the fourth most important City in England. Before the romans left in 410 a.d., the others London Lincoln York were repeatedly sacked by the saxons leaving zirconium As the chief Center. When the romans pulled their final troops out the remaining britons rebuilt the City continued to use it As their capital so Phillips says i looked at How this was the area where Arthur came from according to the earlier Welsh stories Yir conium a the most sophisticated capital in the country. And Camelot is supposed to be this place More sophisticated than anywhere else.  however he still had to proof that actually linked an Arthur to zirconium. So he turned to the perennial Battle at Badon wondered if the powerful Warrior that United the britons against the saxons could possibly have been the most powerful King at Powys which at that time contained the most sophisticated City in England. Tracing genealogies Phillips found that the ruler during the late sixth Century was Owain Dan Gwyn. But he still had t discovered any references to an actual Arthur until he returned to the writings of the Monk Gildas. The Monk had described the Battle of Badon yet without mentioning the hero King s name. But celtic warriors All have names of animals Points out Phillips. When Gildas refers to Owain Dan Gwyn he refers to him As a  the word for Bear is a. Now that was his title but could it have eventually been changed to Arthur this piece of evidence was t new to other historians. But Phillips was the first to Point out that Wildas had written his account within living memory of the Battle of Badon which made it More reliable. The final evidence came when he found that Owain Dan Gwyn had a father whose Battle name was the terrible headed  translated into Welsh this became . The most powerful British King at the time Arthur existed was Owain Dan Gwyn whose Battle name was a who had a father named Uther Pendragon who ruled Fri m the most sophisticated City yet discovered. As far As i was concerned if thur did exist this was  other research led him to believe the Island of Avalon is located outside the town of Baschurch in a great Mound called the berth earlier the sacred burial site of Al the Kings of Powys. Until it was drained in the 1 700s, the area surrounding the Mound was under water which. Fits into the legendary Island s description. But Phillips feels finding the sword Excalibur which would provide solid archaeological evidence would Nail the Case. ,. O All the King Arthur literature describes exactly what the sword looks like. It had a Slimmer design with a stunted Cross guard. The Hilt was decorated with dual serpents the insignia of the roman administration in Western  for is Jayne traendly Graham Phillips holds a re creation of Excalibur. We went to a leading arms Armor expert Dan Shadrack who Drew a sketch of the sword from the descriptions. Wilkinson sword the sword makers for the Queen then made a re creation from it to commemorate the 1,500th anniversary of Arthur s Victory at the Battle of Badon so now we know exactly what we re looking  a Lack of funds for an archaeological dig in berth Are All that Are preventing the closure of this Case. But the fact that Excalibur has t been discovered Means it s still out there to be found so if you re hiking one Day near the berth Pool see the glint of a sword slowly rising to the surface. 8 stripes Magazine november 10, 1994