Tag: Castle

Ellesmere Castle: geophysics points the way for future investigation

Local volunteers Gary Bick and Nick Cull along with Heneb archaeologist Chris Matthews look at the new survey work funded by the Castle Studies Trust that has helped clarify the buried archaeology of Ellesmere Castle, including the likely extent of its bailey.

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Figure 1: Aerial plan of Ellesmere Castle overlaid with the results of the geophysical survey results. Copyright Heneb

Local Beginnings

Ellesmere is a small market town in Northeast Shropshire, close to the England: Wales border, well known for its meres and the Llangollen Canal which passes by the town. Disappointingly, Ellesmere Castle does not figure significantly in any publicity or description of the town, not least because there are no physical remains other than a large motte, now used as a bowling green, and earthworks defining the bailey.

The Castle was probably built towards the end of the 11th Century and played a part in the Marcher disputes between England and Wales. Most notable among its “owners” was Llewelyn, Prince of Gwynedd who had been given the castle by King John as a wedding gift when he married John’s daughter Joan. The castle appears to have fallen into disuse by the late 15th Century , Leland recording that there “used to be a Castle” at Ellesmere, in the mid 16th Century.

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The castle site presumably lay deserted for a couple of hundred years until the late 17th/early 18th Century when a bowling green was created on the motte. Crown bowls have been played there ever since, making it almost certainly unique as the oldest crown green bowls in the country played on a circular motte.

Figure 2: View of Ellesmere Castle from the east, showing motte, bailey and earthworks. Copyright Joe Bickerton Photographs

And so it was in the summer of 2023 that Gary Bick and Nick Cull, Ellesmere residents, were playing bowls at the castle site and started a conversation as to why no significant efforts had ever been made to look for evidence about  the configuration and construction of the castle. That led to the involvement of, and valuable advice from, Dr Nigel Baker via the Shropshire Archaeological and History Society, and Christopher Jobson, local historian. Wider conversations about funding and next steps then led to a stroke of huge good fortune with a ground penetrating radar survey of the motte donated by Adam Cook of Subsurface Measurement Technology in 2024.

The results of that survey which strongly suggested masonry remains under the motte only served to kindle a greater interest and led to an application for a grant from the Castle Studies Trust.

In May 2026, Heneb: The Trust for Welsh Archaeology carried out a programme of non-invasive geophysical investigation at Ellesmere Castle in Shropshire, led by Chris Matthews, Senior Project Archaeologist.  Funded by the Castle Studies Trust and undertaken on behalf of Ellesmere Bowling Club and Shropshire Council, the work aimed to improve understanding of a scheduled motte-and-bailey castle and build on Adam Cook’s ground penetrating radar survey of the motte.

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The Expert View

Ellesmere Castle was once an important medieval stronghold within the shifting political landscape of the Welsh Marches. Very little is known of the earliest phases of the site; however, documentary sources indicate that at least parts of the castle had developed beyond an original earth-and-timber phase into a stone-built fortification, comparable with other nearby marcher sites such as Knockin, Whittington and Oswestry. Today, however, no masonry is visible above ground. This does not appear to have resulted from Civil War destruction, as is often the case elsewhere; instead, later accounts suggest that much of the castle had already been dismantled by the 16th century. The new surveys therefore offered an opportunity to assess whether buried remains of the castle still survive.

The investigation combined several complementary techniques. High-resolution magnetic gradiometry was used across the accessible parts of the motte, bailey and surrounding open ground, while targeted electrical resistivity survey helped test areas where stonework or rubble might survive. The new results were also considered alongside the earlier ground penetrating radar data, LiDAR modelling and historic aerial photography.

Each method responds to different buried conditions. Magnetic survey can pick up ditches, burning, ferrous material and disturbed deposits, while resistivity can be  useful for identifying concentrations of stone, with areas that retain moisture often producing contrasting low-resistance responses. Together, these techniques provide a broad picture of what may survive below the present ground surface, while also identifying the questions that only future targeted excavation can resolve.

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Perhaps the clearest geophysical evidence came from the motte itself. Here, the combined survey results point to a substantial rectilinear feature beneath the bowling green visible in all three datasets, probably representing surviving masonry associated with the castle’s keep. The earlier ground penetrating radar data suggest remains beginning at around 1.1m below the surface, with internal voids and associated demolition deposits also indicated (Fig. 1). The GPR also appears to preserve evidence for the probable original outline of the motte summit, adding weight to the interpretation that the establishment of the bowling green significantly reworked the mound by enlarging its usable surface.

Another supporting aspect of this was noted in the GPR interpretation, which in an archaeological context would typically look to higher-frequency data for more detailed responses at shallower depths. At Ellesmere, however, it was the lower-frequency data that produced the most informative results. One possible explanation is that clay capping associated with the later reworking of the mound for the bowling green limited the effectiveness of the radar at shallower depths, meaning that the deeper-penetrating data provided the clearer picture.

Another strong anomaly may represent a well, shown as a consistent void in the GPR, while further responses on the south-eastern side of the motte could reflect shallower structural remains or spreads of rubble. Taken together, the evidence implies strong potential for significant buried archaeology despite the later landscaping, but point to logistical challenges in exposing the remains due to the deep overburden.

Figure 3: Low frequency time slices of Ellesmere’s motte from the GPR survey by Adam Cooke (2024). Copyright Adam Cook, Subsurface Measurement Technology Ltd

The resistivity survey also identified a substantial anomaly within the currently scheduled bailey, which may represent a buried structure or area of consolidated masonry. Its alignment appears broadly comparable with the principal feature identified on the motte, raising the possibility that it formed part of the castle’s wider built complex, perhaps associated with a forebuilding. This interpretation remains provisional, however, requiring further assessment before its character can be understood with confidence. Additional GPR survey of the scheduled bailey is planned in the near future and should help test whether the resistivity response reflects surviving archaeology, later disturbance or a combination of both.

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One of the most significant results of the project has been to refine the likely extent of the castle bailey. Previous interpretations have noted that the scheduled bailey east and south-east of the motte appears relatively small for a castle of this scale. The new analysis of LiDAR and historic aerial photography now supports a stronger case for a more extensive outer bailey extending south across Sandy Lane.

Figure 4: RAF Aerial photograph 1946, Historic England Archive

The possible southern bailey is visible as a raised triangular plateau in the LiDAR data, and its outline appears to correspond with earthworks visible on 1940s aerial photography before later housing development (Fig 3). Although parts of this area have since been affected by terracing, quarrying and modern construction, the alignment of the plateau with the existing earthworks suggests that elements of the larger bailey circuit may still survive. This would place the bailey in close relationship with Sandy Lane, a prominent historic routeway that once connected Ellesmere to the town of Shrewsbury.

This is an important shift in how the monument can be understood. Rather than treating the present scheduled bailey as the whole of the enclosure, the survey establishes a clearer working hypothesis that the medieval castle may have occupied a broader area, with the southern ground forming part of a more substantial bailey deliberately placed over a significant routeway. This gives future research a much firmer starting point.

Figure 5: Provisional interpretation of anomalies from the geophysical survey copyright Heneb

What happens next?

The results represent the beginning of a new phase of investigation rather than the final word. Geophysics has shown where significant buried features are likely to survive and has helped refine the questions that now need to be tested. In particular, further work could investigate the substantial structural anomalies on the motte and within the bailey, examine the possible well, and test the proposed southern extension of the bailey.

Any future intrusive investigation would need to be carefully targeted and agreed with Historic England, given the site’s status as a scheduled monument, and the Ellesmere Bowling Club as the green is in regular use throughout the season and quality ground reinstatement would be crucial. The value of the present work is that such investigations can now be planned from a stronger evidence base, focusing on the features most likely to answer key questions about the castle’s form, development and survival.

The survey has demonstrated that Ellesmere Castle retains considerable archaeological potential. It provides a carefully evidenced starting point for the next stage of research into one of Shropshire’s lesser-known but historically significant medieval castles.

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You can read the full report here: Geophysical Survey of Ellesmere Castle, Shropshire | Castle Studies Trust

Higham Ferrers – A Royal Castle Revealed

In 2024, we awarded Stephen Parry in conjunction with MoLA a grant to carry out some geophysical surveys in the town of Higham Ferrers to find the lost royal castle once there. Stephen explains what happened next and what they found.

Over a ten-month period during 2024-25, a team of archaeologists used a combination of ground penetrating radar (GPR), magnetometry and earth resistance survey to reveal some of the mysteries of Higham Ferrers Castle, gaining new insights into what this royal castle might have looked like.

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A generous grant from the Castle Studies Trust, supplemented by further grants from East Northamptonshire Council, Higham Ferrers Town Council and Tony & Jennifer Norman and with the support the Higham Ferrers Archaeology and Research Society (HiFARS), enabled archaeologists Stephen Parry (Finham Heritage),  John Walford and Graham Arkley (Museum of London Archaeology) to undertake this project.

No remains of the castle survive above ground today so, before this project, our understanding was largely based on historical documentary evidence. This showed that the Castle was, at least from the early fourteenth century, a substantial medieval building with a hall, chapel, tower-house, King’s and Queen’s Chambers, as well as three gatehouses.

The GPR survey produced the most informative results, showing that the foundations of a curtain wall and other buildings of the inner bailey survive under the garden of the Green Dragon Hotel. Other building remains survive to the north, within the likely extent of the outer bailey.

Figure 1: GPR survey results copyright MoLA

The broad foundation of the curtain wall (structure A in figure 3 appears to be made up of short straight lengths perhaps with slight projections at the angles. It probably enclosed an oval area  measuring roughly 29m by 25m across. However, the southern part of its circuit, which must have lain under the churchyard, was not found by the survey and is likely to have been masked, or perhaps even destroyed, by Victorian grave digging.

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Surprisingly, there is a gap of 15m between the curtain wall and the inner bailey ditch, part of which was exposed in a nearby trial trench excavation in 1991. This might imply that the structure was placed on a low earthen bank or ringwork with its sloping sides taking up the intervening space. This earthwork cannot have been a high motte because, if so, the foundations of interior features would not have been dug to below the original ground level. 

Figure 2 results / plots of Ground Penetrating Radar survey of inner bailey and motte
Figure 3: interpretation of GPR results, both copyright MoLA

The foundations of a square gatehouse (structures B and B2), measuring 6m by 6m, were revealed across the line of the curtain wall and would have provided access from the outer bailey to the north.  Inside the curtain wall, the foundations of a large rectangular building measuring 12m by 7m (structure D) may have been the great hall which the documentary sources indicate was rebuilt after a fire in 1409-1410.  The narrowness of the foundations might imply that the hall was timber built.  Other foundations within the curtain wall (structures C and C2) suggest the presence of other buildings that may have predated the fire.  A further building (structure E) may also be part of the castle but other foundations (structures F to J) are more likely to belong to eighteenth and nineteenth century outbuildings of the Green Dragon Hotel.

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While the construction date of the castle is uncertain, pottery excavated from the castle ditch in 1991 suggests a date after 1100. This evidence, albeit limited, suggests that the castle was not built by the elder William Peveril in the immediate wake of the Norman Conquest but either by his son, as a response to civil war during the reign of King Stephen (1135-1154), or else by the de Ferrers who held the manor from 1199 to 1266.

The results of this work, together with the limited trial trenching and documentary evidence, suggest that Higham Ferrers Castle may have looked similar to  Tamworth Castle, Staffordshire, where the curtain wall is also an irregular polygon defining a slightly smaller area of 27.5m by 23m. Further similarities can be found in the central position of the fifteenth century great hall at Tamworth which was originally built of timber and has similar dimensions to the possible hall at Higham Ferrers, measuring at least 11m by 8m.  To continue the analogy with Tamworth to its conclusion we should expect to see at Higham Ferrers a small courtyard between the gatehouse and hall, with the other castle main buildings including the King and Queen’s chambers, chapel and kitchen inside the line of the curtain wall (though as yet no structures have been identified at Higham Ferrers).

Tamworth Castle Shell Keep. Reproduced by kind permission of Tamworth Castle Archives

Original lay out of Tamworth Castle shell keep.Reproduced by kind permission of Tamworth Castle Archives.

The purpose of the structures in the outer bailey and their date are uncertain, but they could represent service buildings including stables, barns, granaries or cowsheds.

The survey project also investigated an area further to the north which is known locally as Castle Field and is often considered to have been the site of the castle. However, no credible evidence of castle buildings was found in this area. Instead, the main finding was a large rectangular feature, believed to be the remains of a fishpond that appears on a map of Higham Ferrers produced in 1591. 

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You can read the full report here: Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire | Castle Studies Trust

Leybourne Castle, Kent: a monument to female patronage?

In the second half of 2024, Heneb’s Phil Poucher with the support and expert analysis of Neil Ludlow did the first ever detailed modern survey of the privately owned castle of Leybourne Castle, Kent, which has often intrigued castellologists as a key stepping stone in the development of gatehouses. Here Neil Ludlow explains what they found.

Leybourne Castle gatehouse was introduced to this blog last summer, just before the commencement of a programme of CST funded survey and research. The work is now complete, and really does show the value of in-depth studies like this: a somewhat different, and much more interesting picture has emerged. The Welsh Marches aspects of the gatehouse design had been noted, along with patterns of baronial influence including the close links between Leybourne’s lords and the Valence earls of Pembroke; a start-date between c.1300 and 1310 had also been mooted. However, certain key features revealed by detailed study of the gatehouse allow its dating and affinities to be refined more closely, while pointing fairly persuasively to a female builder.

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Figure 1: Plan of Leybourne Castle copyright Neil Ludlow

With origins as a ringwork castle, Leybourne was later ‘fortified’ in masonry, rather lightly, to become a rectangular courtyard house somewhat awkwardly superimposed upon the earlier earthwork. The masonry comprises a twin-towered gatehouse attached to a large, rectangular storeyed building – now gone – that may have been a chapel or, perhaps more likely, a chamber-block. The latter appears to have been connected by a passage to a third D-shaped tower at the southeast corner. This tower lies opposite a smaller, rectangular building at the southwest corner, that may represent a service-block and overlying chamber, with a Great Hall formerly lying east-west between them. The remaining side of the castle, to the west, was defined by a lowish wall.

Figure 2: Leybourne Castle Gatehouse north elevation copyright Neil Ludlow
Figure 3: Leybourne Castle Gatehouse south elevation copyright Neil Ludlow

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Stylistic evidence suggests all the masonry at the castle belongs to one overall campaign, centering on the years 1305-25 and showing influence from the Welsh borderlands – probably via associations between the Leybourne lords and two Marcher families, the Valences and the Cliffords. The evidence for its dating and affinities is fairly precise, and can be summarised as follows –

  • The gatehouse shows a high outer arch, a feature with origins in the Welsh Marches 1280-1300.
  • It also shows fully-oilletted cruciform loops, which were similarly developed in the Welsh Marches 1280-1300 where they were extensively employed by the Clare lords of Glamorgan, and also by the Valences. One of the Leybourne loops survives unaltered, demonstrating that they are original features, though mostly now rebuilt or modified.
  • The gate-passage lies beneath a quadripartite rib-vault, normally confined to the 1330s onwards but with an early example in the gatehouse built by Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, at Bampton Castle, Oxon., in 1315-24.
  • A ‘letterbox chute’ overlies the entry, as at Caerphilly Castle, Glam. (1270s) and Bampton Castle (1315-24).
  • The entry is deeply recessed between flanking towers, as in Edward I’s Welsh Castles at Rhuddlan, Harlech and Beaumaris (1270s-1300).
  • The windows have double-chamfered rebated surrounds, in a Marches style and similar to windows built by the Valences (1280s-90s) and another Marcher lord, Robert de Clifford (1300-1314), eg. at Goodrich Castle (Herefs.) and Brough Castle (Westmorland).
  • The Southeast Tower shows a doorway with a raised threshold (like a ship’s bulkhead door), as in work from 1300-1310 at Bothwell Castle, Lanarks., and Brougham Castle, Westmorland, by Aymer de Valence and Robert de Clifford respectively. Two more possible raised thresholds have been revealed at Leybourne in service trenches.
  • The portcullis would have been fully-visible when raised, as at Chirk Castle, Denbighs., and Tonbridge Castle in Kent, which itself shows considerable Marches influence; both are probably from the 1290s.
  • The portcullis grooves have ¾ round profiles as in the outer gate at at Corfe Castle (1280s), but their margins are refined with rounded chamfers.
  • The gatehouse is flanked by a D-shaped latrine turret that may be influenced by a similar turret at the Clares’ Llangibby Castle, Mon. (1307-14), at least in function, if not in its precise form: unlike Llangibby, it lies parallel with the axis of the tower.
  • It houses a fireplace with a rounded back, normally characteristic of earlier work but also seen in the Great Hall fireplaces at Pembroke Castle (William de Valence, 1270s) and Haverfordwest Castle, Pembs. (probably Aymer de Valence, 1308-15).
  • Aspects of their design, detail and planning suggest the D-shaped Southeast Tower, the former ?chamber-block and the Southwest Building were all contemporary with the gatehouse.

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During the period 1305-25, Leybourne Castle appears to have been in the sole possession of a woman – Alice de Leybourne (née de Toeni). She received the castle and manor on the death of her husband Thomas de Leybourne in 1307, and all evidence suggests that she held it, in her own right, until her own death in 1324. She was the only beneficiary when her brother Robert died in 1310, providing the necessary resources. Under her tenure, Leybourne appears to have retained its status as the caput of an extensive Kentish lordship, and it is likely that the gatehouse represented accommodation, and administrative space, for its officials. Alice may therefore join the list, currently very short, of women castle-builders.

A number of other results have emerged from the present study. I suggest that a significant amount of work was undertaken by the Leybourne family at Leeds Castle, Kent, before it was acquired by Edward I’s queen Eleanor in c.1278, that this work included the creation of the lakes for which the site is celebrated, and that they may have been the inspiration for the lakes at Caerphilly Castle. It is also possible that the extensive work from c.1300 at Brough Castle, Westmorland, was undertaken by another woman – Alice’s aunt, Idonea de Leybourne.

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To see the full report please go here: Leybourne, Kent | Castle Studies Trust

Please note Leybourne Castle is privately owned and not open to the public.

How Civil Engineering Techniques Can Be Used To Help Inform Cultural Heritage Conservation

Post graduate student Tom Davies explains how he has taken some of the latest civil engineering techniques to help understand the condition of the stone work of old buildings, using Durham Castle as a case study.

Durham Castle was the building of interest for my master’s research project in 2023/4. Durham Castle has an incredible history, being founded in 1072 on the orders of William the Conqueror, to being the seat of the Prince Bishops, to now being part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site and University College for Durham University. The Castle’s rich history and architectural significance makes it preservation crucial, ensuring that its historic features are maintained for future generations.

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Copyright Tom Davies

My research was based on understanding how a section centred around and above the Norman Chapel, the oldest building in County Durham, behaves under ambient excitation. Every structure experiences ambient excitation under normal operating conditions, it is the study of how a structure moves due to natural stimuli such as how it reacts to windy conditions and how it responds to when people move through the structure. Within the section I investigated, the Norman Chapel was on the ground floor, the Senate Rooms on the first floor, and some of the rooms of the Norman Gallery were on the second floor, with the roof above. These spaces, along with their remarkable examples of Norman architecture, make the conservation of this part of the Castle especially vital. The first non-destructive in situ testing I conducted was ambient vibration testing. This involves using multiple accelerometers in orthogonal directions (at right angles, seen in Figure 2) to record how the structure responds to ambient excitation, in this case measurements were undertaken on a windy day. Every building vibrates naturally at its natural frequency, which is determined by the building materials and structural connections of the building among other conditions. The taller the building, the lower the natural frequency, as they are more flexible. The Castle section I looked at is 3 storeys high, so one would expect a higher natural frequency than that of a structure such as the main tower of Durham Cathedral, which is 66m tall. The recorded accelerations were converted into frequency measurements which revealed information about the natural frequencies. This conversion is important, as when plots are made, it is possible to see different modes of vibration.

Copyright Tom Davies

In order to characterise the masonry parameters that were used in the numerical model and subsequent simulations, another type of non-destructive in situ test was performed, sonic tests. Some tests were undertaken within the Norman Chapel, as this is the oldest part of the Castle, and its masonry has therefore been subject to the most deterioration of any internal section of the Castle due to its age. Additional tests on a masonry panel in a Gallery (corridor) just outside the Norman Chapel were conducted, this is because this Gallery is a very similar age to the masonry of the rooms above the Norman Chapel, from around the 1600s. From this, the different ages, and therefore state of deterioration, of the masonry within the Castle could be included.

Copyright Tom Davies

Sonic tests involve hitting the masonry, gently, with an instrumented hammer, shown in Figure 3,  and recording the time it took for the subsequent waveform to be registered on an oscilloscope (a machine that shows waves) connected to an accelerometer. Figure 3 shows how this process works, there are two types of waves: P and R waves. The main difference is one travels along the surface of the stone, and the other travels into the stone and reflects off the back of it and returns to the surface. I will focus on the P waves (their names are quite confusing, but it is interesting to know that you can obtain the desired outcome, here the determination of material properties, using either wave). From the recorded wave you can work out the speed of the wave, and using equations you can work out material properties. This is an incredibly important in defining the characteristics of the material within the numerical model. I constructed a finite element model and applied appropriate boundary conditions to represent the foundations of the building, as well as the connections between the section I was investigating and the rest of the Castle. I used the results of the sonic tests mentioned above to determine the masonry material parameters. From the numerical simulations, global frequencies were determined and compared to the results of the ambient vibration testing. global frequency, I mean results that represent the structure as a whole, rather than only a little part of it such as the tower you can see in Figure 4b, or an individual wall. The goal of the finite element model was for its results to be as close to the results of the ambient vibration testing as possible, as this would indicate the model was good at replicating the actual behaviour of the building.

Copyright Tom Davies

Looking forward, there is a plan to undertake a multi-year project to investigate Durham Castle on a much larger scale, building on the work I have done with the target of investigating the entire Castle. The most intriguing prospect is that when a full finite element model of the entirety of the Castle is built, simulations of different loading conditions can be investigated. This would allow different situations to be modelled and the results determined before any physical changes were done to the Castle.

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Newhouse Dig Diary – Day Five

In his final dig diary Dr Ryan Prescott updates us on the final day of the Newhouse excavation.

Day Five represented the final day of our excavations at Newhouse, and there was much still left to do before we wrapped up our work for the week.

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We had found it quite difficult since Monday to find the cut of the ditches from the natural, despite the clarity of their profile from outside of the trenches. While we had the JCB back on site, we thought it would be worthwhile to cut a little deeper into the ditch cuts on both Trench 1 and Trench 2 to determine more about them and their relationship to each other. Certainly, in Trench 1, we seem to have been able to find the extent of the cut and were able to record its measurements and draw sketches which will help us better interpret the nature of the earthworks as a whole. From this, it would appear that the mound was predominantly natural but had been reworked with an accompanying ditch cut around its perimeter.

Again, with the aid of our JCB, we set to work backfilling the two trenches and making sure that the site was returned as much to the state it had been in prior to our arrival. After the welfare unit had been collected, we packed up the car with our equipment, and ensured that the finds would be safely transported back to the office ready for the next phase of our project. We also had a visit from the farmer who was able to point out some other features on the broader site that he had been aware, including a much smaller mound to the north in the adjacent field which had existed until it had been ploughed out some years before.

Now that the fieldwork has been completed, we hope to bring you more information in the coming weeks about what we have found. We are hoping that the picture will become clearer in the post-excavation phase, but Newhouse has undoubtedly proven to be a site even more intriguing than we had first thought it to have been.

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Figure 1: Digging deeper into the ditch cut in Trench 1
Figure 2: The ditch profile in Trench 1
Figure 3: Trench 1 and Trench 2 were both backfilled before the end of the day

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Newhouse Dig Diary – Day Four

Dr Ryan Prescott updates us on what happened on day four of their dig

Today we have resumed our efforts in Trench 1.

The two features that garnered our attention in day three required more investigation, so we set to work to try and find the underlying cause of what was going on. We had managed to recover the pot from Trench 1 yesterday, and it remains safely packed for analysis but today we focused on the feature in the centre of the trench where the piece of leather had been found. At first, it seemed that the find had been sitting on a bed of charcoal. However, upon closer inspection (and much more digging!) it revealed to be a deposit of textile material which has remarkably survived and will provide a fantastic source of dating evidence, together with the pot. Small fragments of medieval pottery were also identified in both Trench 1 and Trench 2, as well as further pieces of flint and small animal bone.

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Figure 1: Textile remains recovered from Trench 1

Before the end of the day, we also had a visit from the Lincolnshire Historic Environment Record, as well as Peter Connelly from Humber Field Archaeology and showed our visitors what we had found so far. We have all been sharing our interpretations on what we believe may have happened at Newhouse and we have all agreed that the site is far more complex than anticipated. Previous research on the site had only acknowledged its medieval history, chiefly the construction of the abbey on the site of an ‘Anarchy’ period castle. However, it does seem that the mound may have had a much longer pedigree of human occupation which would have been an attractive prospect for Peter of Goxhill who was only too aware of the castles and monasteries which were being founded by nearby lords at Barrow and Barton upon Humber, and was keen to emulate their efforts. We are hoping that the picture will become clearer in the post-excavation phase, but Newhouse certainly has an important story to tell.

We have one more day to wrap up our work at Newhouse for this year, but we have much more work to do before we leave site, so it is shaping up to be a busy day.

Figure 2: Pottery from trench one

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Newhouse Dig Diary – Days Two and Three

Dr Ryan Prescott gives an update on what happened on days two and three.

Day Two

Day two of our investigations at Newhouse has seen us focus our efforts on Trench 2.

We spent the morning cleaning the trench and it became apparent that we were looking at two possible post holes nearer the eastern ditch of the earthwork. These were cleaned and carefully dug into before recording was then completed.

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On our first day we had unearthed a masonry slab and today we excavated around it to see if there were any other adjoining slabs. Unfortunately, it proved to have been an isolated example. It has been worked with a distinct curve, suggesting it may have been part of a doorway, likely part of the later abbey structures. Though it does not seem to have been in its original context. Nonetheless, it is a nice example which will help us date the activity on the site and build up a chronology. This is especially important as nothing from the abbey remains on the surface of the entirety of the field where we are based. This was one of the key aims of the project.

Figure 1: Two possible post holes in Trench 2
Figure 2: A masonry slab

Day Three

We are grateful to be finally benefiting from some much-needed sun. In good spirits, we returned on our third day to Trench 1 and were keen to see what the day would bring.

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Trench 1 was cleaned up and like in Trench 2, leaving it exposed over the past couple of days had really helped bring some features to light. After clearing a modern rubbish dump of bricks in the southern corner of the trench within the topsoil, we began working on a couple of areas of interest. Day one had revealed some pottery shards, and it became clear that there was more beneath the surface. After trowelling where the shards had been uncovered on Monday, we found the remains of a larger pot. Excitingly, the pot seems to be largely intact but appears to be older than the known history of the site. We also explored a potential feature in the centre of the trench where the soil appeared darker. After much digging, we discovered what appears to have been a small piece of leather, an incredible find. We recorded these two finds and importantly, safely transported them back to the site entrance before they are taken to Humberfield Archaeology for further analysis when the fieldwork has been completed.

Stay tuned to see us progress our work in Trench 1 on day 4 of our excavations at Newhouse.

Figure 3: The remains of a pot
Figure 4: A small piece of leather recovered from Trench 1

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Newhouse Dig Diary – Day One

Ryan Prescott gives an update on what happened on the first day of digging at Newhouse

The first day of our excavations at Newhouse has provided some promising results already. This week we are excavating two trenches across the earthwork identified last year from geophysical survey (please look at our aims for this year on the CST Blog).

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Trench 1 was swiftly opened with the aid of our JCB. It was hoped that this trench would help corroborate twelfth-century sources that a castle had existed prior to Newsham Abbey, founded here during ‘the Anarchy’. This trench was excavated diagonally from the west to the south-east of the earthwork in order to cut across two of its sides. However, we decided to extend our work in this trench with a perpendicular channel to the southern boundary. At a length of over 40m and 2m wide, the trench has yielded large quantities of flint, some of which appears to have been worked. We have also recovered evidence of burning and pottery finds which we will investigate further as the week progresses.

Figure 1: Trench 1 looking south.

To provide more comprehensive insight into the nature of this three-sided earthwork, Trench 2 was dug across the eastern side of the raised platform and extends from its middle into the ditch on this side at a length of around 25m, slightly longer than initially planned. At first, this trench appeared to show little of interest. Undeterred, we decided to dig deeper into the ditch, and much like in Trench 1, it is clear from this that the earthwork would have been higher than the remains which are left behind. We plan to dig deeper into this later in the week. We cleaned the rest of this trench and discovered a masonry slab, hoping to have a better view of any potential finds and features on our second day when we return to focus on this trench.

Figure 2: Trench 2 looking west with a view of the masonry slab found there.
Figure 3: The ditch being opened up in Trench 2 looking east

We are excited to see what the second day of the excavations reveals and will be posting updates as soon as we can.

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Newhouse Castle: excavation aims and objectives

Dr Ryan Prescott, project lead looks at what they hope to find at the excavations at Newhouse.

The reign of King Stephen, 1135 – 1154, commonly referred to as ‘the Anarchy,’ was marked by purported political turmoil and discord. Against this backdrop for the struggle for the throne, medieval chroniclers wrote of a surge in castle-building, seemingly in defiance of royal authority. While recent scholarship has since begun to reassess many aspects of Stephen’s reign, the archaeological dimension of these castles remains largely unexplored.

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With the support of the Castle Studies Group Small Projects Fund, a geophysical survey was carried out in the Spring of 2023 to investigate Newhouse Castle, known to have been built in North Lincolnshire amidst the conflict between King Stephen and the Empress Matilda. However, soon after its initial construction, contemporary sources indicate that the site of Peter of Goxhill’s castle was repurposed to establish a monastery, becoming England’s first Premonstratensian House, continuing to prosper until finally suppressed in 1536.

Figure 1: The results of geophysical survey conducted at Newhouse in 2023, funded by the Castle Studies Group.

On face value, the transient nature of the castle at Newhouse is typical of what we have come to recognise for ‘the Anarchy’ period, leaving much unknown about its characteristics, completion, or intended purpose. Through planned excavations made possible by a grant from the Castle Studies Trust, Dr Ryan Prescott and Humberfield Archaeology seek to achieve several key objectives in the summer of 2024:

  • Unearthing the Past: This phase of the project involves excavating the earthwork identified through geophysical survey. By examining the physical remnants of Newhouse, we hope to be able to provide evidence for its construction, size, and layout. This is a crucial step when profiling the site and attempting to determine the reasons why it was first built.
  • Dating Evidence: While historical documents offer some insights into Newhouse’s timeline, the lack of firm dating evidence leaves much to speculation. With two trial trenches planned across the monument, we aim to establish a more accurate chronology of the site, bridging the gap between written records and the physical evidence. This remains a key issue with all sites contemporary to ‘the Anarchy’ and where possible, we hope to be able to address this through the archaeological remains.
  • From Castle to Abbey: One of the most intriguing aspects of Newhouse is its rapid transition from a castle to an abbey. Through an examination of the archaeological evidence and various buried deposits present at the site, we hope to learn more about the structural changes which accompanied this transformation. Understanding how and why Newhouse evolved into Newsham Abbey is essential when interpreting the socio-political landscape of North Lincolnshire.
  • Contextual Analysis: Newhouse does not exist in isolation; it is part of a broader network of castles and religious foundations in North Lincolnshire and the Humber. By comparing Newhouse with nearby sites including the castles at Barrow upon Humber and Barton upon Humber, we aim to gain insights into the regional dynamics of lordly power during ‘the Anarchy’. How did these sites interact, compete, or cooperate in the midst of political instability? These are just some of the questions we hope to answer.
Figure 2: View of the earthwork at Newhouse looking south.

As we now enter the excavation phase at Newhouse, we will continue share our progress through blog posts, video updates, and our excavation findings when the work has been completed. We hope that our research at Newhouse will contribute to a deeper understanding of ‘the Anarchy’, and provide a much-needed local perspective into how lesser magnates, like Peter of Goxhill, expressed their wealth, power, and status through castle-building and religious patronage.

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Lowther Medieval Castle Week Four Dig Diary: Into the Labs

In Week Fourth and final week of the Lowther Medieval Castle and Village Project 2024, the team moved into the UCLan labs. This crucial phase allows us to draw together the evidence we’ve collected last year and this, from the recording of trenches to the analysis of soil samples.

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A major part of this process is the transfer of trench plans onto a Geographic Information System (GIS). During excavations, the dig team thoroughly recorded the contents of trenches in situ. This included the painstaking task of drawing the cobbled surfaces found inside the ringwork castle at 1:20 scale. Now, these hand drawings are transferred to the GIS and the outline of every cobblestone is traced digitally so that the archaeological contexts within the trenches be plotted with pinpoint accuracy.

Figure 1 Both last year and this, student archaeologists painstakingly recorded by hand the contents of all trenches
Figure 2 With hand drawings of trenches transferred to the project GIS, each component of the drawing needs to be traced digitally

Meanwhile, the team is also plotting onto the GIS hundreds of data points from around the ringwork castle taken using a Global Positioning System (GPS). This allows us to create a three-dimensional digital model of the ringwork castle, in order to investigate its form and plot the positioning and contents of trenches from this year and last, building up our picture of the castle, its features and finds.

Figure 3 Taking hundreds of data points via the GPS enables the team to construct a 3D digital model of the ringwork castle
Figure 4 Trenches from both phases of excavation can be plotted onto the 3D model of the ringwork castle using the GIS

While one cohort of student archaeologists has been busy in the computer labs, another has been hard at work processing soil samples. Throughout the excavation, the team has been collecting bulk soil samples of 40 litres from all trenches. These samples have now been processed using water flotation, in order to recover charred plant remains, as well as small bones and artefacts. This has so far yielded environmental evidence such as tiny snail shells, which can be analysed to reconstruct the surrounding environment at the time the ringwork castle was built.

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Figure 5 Dozens of soil samples have been processed using water flotation
Figure 6 Soil sample processing yields environmental evidence, such as tiny snail shells

Now that Phase Two investigations are drawing to a close, the team has also been able to take stock of the small finds garnered this year. As discussed in our last Dig Diary, this year’s finds have included cockle shells and gritty ware pottery, both of which will help us to date the castle and trace activity at Lowther in the Middle Ages. This builds on intriguing earlier finds this year of animal bones, including an articulated fetlock (discussed in our first Dig Diary this year). We can now add to this a bone bead, small but delicately carved, which looks to be dateable to the Middle Ages.

Figure 7 A small carved bone bead found during this year’s excavation

Work on analysing these finds – and the broader phase of analysis – is ongoing, and will be compiled into the project’s second interim report in due course.

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