So there's some really interesting work out there on both the archaeology of royal sites and the logistical organisation of semi-intinerant kingship that's well worth reading. In particular, I recommend J. Gould's work on the excavations of Offa's Tamworth and Ryan Lavelle's monograph on 'farms of one night'.

Early Medieval English kingship is semi-intinerant. That is to say that the king wasn't constantly on the move, but that he and his close gesith migrated periodically around the country to carry out royal duties, usually eh dispensing of justice, the arbitration of local disputes, and to celebrate local successes. In *c.*937, for example, Æthelstan was in Malmesbury to reward the town's fyrd for its service at the battle of Brunanburh, while his legal codices were pronounced at Grately and London. Æthelstan's Malmesbury charter actually illustrates how this kingship functioned:

And I give and grant to them that royal heath of five hides of land near my small vill of Norton...

Norton is just one of many royal vils, the network of small settlements distributed across the county. These are (essentially) what Lavelle refers to as 'farms of one night : basically royal manorial estates which rendered rent in the form of providing food and drink to support the royal household as it passed through the region. In some areas, multiple royal villages might have been liable as 'farms of one night' for a local vil. Notable West Saxon royal vils included Kingston Lacy, Pucklechurch, Corfe and Chippenham. Unfortunately very little of the fabric of the manors attached to these vils, where the king might reside while touring through the area, survives.

Gould's excavations at Tamworth found a likely palace complex dating from the reign of Offa that was a large wooden hall surrounded by a palisade; LIDAR work at Kingston Lacy also found the site of a large wooden hall adjacent to a number of smaller buildings most likely the regular houses of the settlement. What is interesting is that the royal residence there appears to have been part of the regular settlement rather than walled off like a castle.

The other centres of royal power were monasteries and religious institutions, patronised or founded by members of royal dynasties. Winchester Abbey was a seat of power of the West Saxon Cerdicing dynasty, with Ecgberht, Æthelwulf and, eventually, Cnut and Emma all interred there. The other seat of their power was Wimborne, neighbouring the royal vil at Kingston Lacy, where there was an abbey founded by St Cuthburga, sister of Ine of Wessex, and where Æthelred I is interred.