Alan Wilson is a Welsh historian specialising in the study of the origins of King Arthur and related subjects.

Early career

Wilson studied at the University of Cardiff before a highly successful career in the shipbuilding industry as a master planner. After working in Wales, England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy and Sweden as a consultant, he retired to concentrate on the historical research he first started on a part-time basis in 1956.

Arthurian research

In 1976, after a chance meeting with historical researcher, Baram Blackett (born Anthony Thomas Blackett), at the public library in Newcastle upon Tyne, the two men decided to put up many thousands of pounds of their own money to fund full-time research into the origins of King Arthur. The Arthurian stories, so popular today, came out of South-Eastern Wales into France, via the Normans, in the 12th century and this encouraged them to start their search in the same place. The search soon moved beyond Wales into the English Midlands.

To date, Wilson and Blackett have vanity-published seven books that provide information based upon based upon Old Welsh records that date to the 12th Century. They believe that these provide a final solution to the King Arthur story and claim to have discovered the true sites of the battles of Badon (Mynydd Baedan) and Camlann although the identification had been made 150 years before by Welsh writers.

In 1983, Wilson and Blackett discovered what they believe to be King Arthur's memorial stone at the small ruined church of St Peter-super-Montem on Mynydd-y-Gaer in Mid-Glamorgan, which they owned. (There are doubts about the authenticity of this stone as it has never been made available for testing either by independent experts or academics.) Following this, they employed the services of two archaeologists, (Professor Eric Talbot and Alan Wishart) in 1990, to lead a dig at the same place. During the excavations, which were authorised by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, several highly significant artefacts were discovered including an ancient axe, a knife and a small electrum cross, comprising 79% silver and weighing two and a half pounds, that reads "Pro Anima Artorius" ("For The Soul Of Arthur"). (This cross in whole has never been independently tested and there are grave doubts about its authenticity.) This was no surprise to Wilson and Blackett who had already identified the church as an ancient and vitally important historical site dating to the 1st century. Other major Welsh kings are buried locally.

Eric Talbot agreed, in 2004-5, to be a witness against Wilson and Blackett in a libel court action taken by the men against a website operator, Howards Kimberley, who disagreed with them. Talbot, in his court statement, told an entirely different story to that proposed by Wilson and Blackett.

As a logical sequence to the foregoing, Wilson and Blackett began a search for what was known as 'The Greatest Work of the Cymru' - Cifrangon. This is a massive, hollow, man-made hill concealed somewhere in Wales (similar to Silbury Hill). Treasure hunters in Wales have long sought this fabled hill in which, it is believed, lie several objects of tremendous historical and archaeological value, many of which may be covered in gold.

For centuries, the old Welsh knew themselves to be descended from the Lost Tribes of Israel , and Cifrangon is believed to be the place in which the Ark of the Covenant - containing the broken slabs on which the Ten Commandments were written by Jahweh - was concealed. The men first discovered the site in 1981. In 2006, in conjunction with other researchers, Wilson established the whereabouts of this repository in Wales, and in 2007 published a book describing this, and the combination of both traditional and modern historical and archaeological methods employed to validate this discovery non-invasively. The book was funded by the British Israel World Federation, which has links to similar groups in the USA. The publication of the book was hampered severely by delays originating with the publishers, leading to the belief that somebody did not want this information to be made public. Meanwhile, the farmer, Alan Edwards of Fanhaulog Farm by Ynys-y-bwl, who owns the land upon which the alleged "Ark" site is located, Twyn y Glog above Pontypridd, have been harassed and bullied by Wilson and Blackett and does not want the men on their land. Welsh authorities are aware of the site and are taking appropriate action.

Many of Wilson and Blackett's supporters have left their group after it emerged that the duo both stood as candidates for the far-right British National Party in Kenton, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, in May 2004 and also met BNP leader Nick Griffin, making him a gift of their books. [381]Other supporters who were unaware of Blackett's conviction for handling stolen goods in Cardiff in the early 1990s have similarly flown the coop. (Blackett's real name is Brian Terry.)

One of the methods used to determine if the Hill is indeed an artefact or construct, rather than a natural formation is the application of Google Earth, which shows original ground levels rather than Ordnance Survey heights and contours. (Glamorgan University, Morgan M., Sunman R., and Butterworth R., 2005 -2006) An examination of Silbury Hill will show how this works, revealing only the gentle slope beneath the hill, rather than the shape of the artificial mound.

Lecture tours

Alan Wilson and his colleague lectured extensively in the United Kingdom, including Manchester and Jesus College at the University of Oxford, and Alan Wilson gave the prestigious Bemis Lecture in Boston in 1993. Research into claims that the Welsh settled in mid-western America in antiquity led to Wilson and his colleague, Baram Blackett, accepting invitations from American supporters to visit US sites of historical significance in 1994. The visit led to several television appearances and the deciphering of alphabetic inscriptions claimed to be in the old 'Coelbren' alphabet. Wilson also concluded that the many snake mounds in the American Mid-west were of ancient Khumric-British construction. Whilst in America, the two men were also commissioned to produce a detailed genealogy for the Bush family (friends and supporters of President George H. W. Bush).

Published works

Arthur, King of Glamorgan and Gwent (with Baram Blackett, MT Byrd Partnership, 1980)

Arthur and Charter of the Kings (with Baram Blackett, MT Byrd Partnership, 1981)

Arthur The War King (with Baram Blackett, MT Byrd Partnership, 1982-3)

Artorius Rex Discovered (with Baram Blackett, MT Byrd Partnership, 1986)

The Holy Kingdom (with Adrian Gilbert and Baram Blackett, Bantam, 1998)

King Arthur Conspiracy (with Grant Berkley and Baram Blackett, Trafford, 2005)

Moses in the Hieroglyphs (with Grant Berkley and Baram Blackett, Trafford, 2006)

The Discovery of the Ark of the Covenant (with Grant Berkley and Baram Blackett, Trafford, 2007)