The next great mystery of where a king is buried could be solved as archaeologists try to find the grave of Alfred the Great.

This is a long shot because, unlike with Richard III,there is no complete skeleton. We only know there are five skulls and some bones and we also don’t know if the bones belonged to monks from Hyde Abbey

An application has been made to exhume and study bones believed to lie in an unmarked grave at St Bartholomew Church in Winchester, Hampshire, to find out if they are the legendary Saxon king, who defeated the Danes.

It is thought the grave may hold the bones of Alfred after a possible earlier burial of the king under the nearby ruined Hyde Abbey was dug up in the 19th century.

The University of Winchester is seeking permission from a diocesan advisory panel of the Church of England which will consult English Heritage and a judge will make a final decision. Katie Tucker from the university explained that it is not known if the bones of the king were disturbed when Hyde Abbey was dissolved by Henry VIII in the 1530s.

Since then there have been several digs at the site, all suggesting they have found the bones with some being put on display in Winchester in the 19th century before they were buried in the unmarked grave at the church.

German scientists have analysed the skeleton of Alfred’s granddaughter in Magdeburg, Germany, to try and get DNA but that has proved unsuccessful, Dr Tucker said, so experts will rely on radio carbon dating to get proof.

“If the bones are from around the 10th century, then that is proof they are Alfred and his family because Hyde Abbey was not built until the 12th century and there would be no reason for any other bones from the 10th century to be there,” she said.

“This is a long shot because, unlike with Richard III, there is no complete skeleton. We only know there are five skulls and some bones and we also don’t know if the bones belonged to monks from the abbey.”

The university is hoping that permission will be granted this spring and results could be due in early summer.

Alfred lived from AD849 to AD899 and was born in Wantage, Oxfordshire. He is the only English monarch to be afforded the title ‘The Great’. He was technically King of Wessex but he was referred to as King of the English towards the end of his reign.

He united areas of the country and defeated the Danes in several battles before reforming the country and laying the foundations of a more modern state. He died in his capital Winchester and was buried there.

Legend has it he burnt cakes he was asked to watch over while distracted trying to think how to defeat the invaders and he had to sleep with his horse as a punishment.

Who was Alfred the Great?

• Alfred the Great was born in the village of Wanating, now Wantage, Oxfordshire, in 849. He was the youngest son of King Aethelwulf of Wessex, by his first wife, Osburh.

• In 853, at the age of four, Alfred is said to have been sent to Rome where, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he was confirmed by Pope Leo IV who “anointed him as king”.

• He was King of Wessex from 871 to 899.

• Alfred successfully defended his kingdom against the Viking attempt at conquest and, by the time of his death, had become the dominant ruler in England.

• He is the only English monarch to be accorded the epithet “the Great”.