2018: Where did we dig, and what did we find?
During June 2018 we excavated two trenches at Auckland Castle. Trench 1 focused on the area immediately south of the current bishop's office, while Trench 2 was located south of the east-end of St Peter's Chapel, the original Great Hall. Successive excavations and geophysical surveys across the site between 2012-18, including in the area south of the Scotland Wing, have revealed that the site was substantially larger during the medieval period than it currently is. We were keen to excavate Trench 1 because we believed that it might have been the site of lost medieval buildings like those discovered nearby. In particular, we have tantalising documentary evidence which reveals that Bishop Bek (1284-1310) constructed a large chapel at the site, allegedly to rival the king's in Westminster. Various experts have postulated about the precise location of this chapel, and one argument has always been that it was located in the area on Trench 1. Other walls and ditches discovered across the site during building works are also interesting, and we were keen to see if we could explore these further in this excavation.
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The location of Trench 2 was similarly informed by the documentary evidence for the site and our understandings of the typical layout of medieval buildings. As the 12th century Great Hall, we know that it would have been accompanied by a range of rooms, like kitchens, pantries, butteries, larders, brewhouses and other service rooms which have not survived. The remains of doorways and standing building evidence from inside St Peter's Chapel tell us which end of the building these would have been on. We were keen to excavate these because kitchens and service spaces have the potential to tell us about the size of households, how many people would have been fed at feasts, and the kinds of foods consumed by the bishop. There have been very few excavated bishop's houses, so this kind of information has the ability to shape our understandings of medieval bishops.
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Below is an overview of what we found in each trench, but feel free to read through the daily dig diaries from the 2018 excavation season.
Trench 1
Large Rectangular Building and Square-shaped Room
Although this was one of the first features we discovered, it was still a huge surprise. The building is approx. 15m long and 9m wide and runs parallel to the Wyatt Screen. Initially we found the northernmost wall of it along the southern edge of Trench 1, but in the second week we were able to open up three small test pits south of the Wyatt Screen after a Ground Penetrating Radar survey identified the extent of the building. These test pits confirmed that we had located the extent of the feature, and in one of the test pits we even discovered an apotrophaic or masons mark carved onto the stone.
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Unfortunately, we were unable to discover any diagnostic stonework or artefacts that enable us to date this structure. We have ascertained that this building is older than the square-shaped room, platform and bits of wall extending from them because they appear to have been built abutting the rectangular building.
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Interpretations for this structure range from a gateway, defensive structure or earlier house.
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Buttresses
On the northern edge of this trench we discovered a series of buttresses supporting a wall beyond the limits of the trench. Each of these buttresses were approx.. 6m apart and aligned east-west. We know from historic accounts that Bishop Bek built an impressive 2-storey chapel designed to rival the King’s chapel in Westminster. Today, this building does not exist and it has long been believed that it was destroyed by the Parliamentarian owner of Auckland Castle during the Civil Wars and Commonwealth period, Sir Arthur Haslerigge. One of the stones from these buttresses appears to have been broken with considerable force, quite possible during an explosion, which fits with the theory that it was destroyed during the Commonwealth/Civil Wars period. Using this logic, it therefore seems probable that Bek's chapel was located beneath the area now the site of the bishop's offices.
Ditches
Throughout this trench we discovered a large ditch feature in multiple areas. This ditch, which had many different fills, exceeded 5m diameter in places. In some areas it appears to have also been clay-lined meaning that it would have retained water effectively. On site we had a geoarchaeologist who was able to tell us lots about the differences between soil types, and their useful properties. The size of this feature together with its slowly permeable nature has led to the suggestion that this could have been a moat, or large defensive ditch. Currently, we don’t have any dateable artefacts from within this ditch, so we don’t know when it was dug or used. We know that it predates some features because some walls were built on top of areas of filled-in ditch.
Trench 2
One of the standout finds from Trench 2 was the discovery of a kitchen which included three hearths, large areas of burning, drains, animal bone and lots of medieval pottery. Its location close to the east end of the Great Hall (St Peter’s Chapel) fits with the idea that medieval halls were almost always accompanied by a specific set of ancillary spaces which included kitchens, butteries and pantries.
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The presence of a 12th century exterior wall (probably contemporary with the construction of the Great Hall) on the north-side of this trench indicates to us that this kitchen is a later addition. We know that Bishop Bek was responsible for lots of building work at the site in the late 13th/early-14th centuries, and it is very possible that these kitchens were part of this building episode, although we cannot be sure. Therefore, it seems likely that there would have been an earlier kitchen built during the late-12th century that was located beneath the 17th century terrace at the eastern end of the St Peter's Chapel.
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At the beginning of the third week a decision was made to open up an additional trench through the slope of the bowling green in alignment with the terrace. If there had been an earlier kitchen, this trench might have been able to pick up the external wall of it. Sure enough, we discovered areas of wall and surface which might be consistent with this feature.
Kitchens
Porch, stairwell and cobbled area
To the west of the kitchen area, a small room and platform were discovered. We believe that these might have been the porch and the base for a stairwell which would have been used to access the Great Hall and other rooms, including the kitchen, pantries and butteries. During the medieval period, we believe that the Great Hall would have been accessed at the opposite end than it is accessed now. The placement of this newly-discovered porch conveniently parallels the current porch into St Peter’s Chapel which provides some impression of its size and footprint.
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South of the kitchen we discovered an area of cobbling dissected with many drains and culverts. We believe that this was probably an exterior space outside of the kitchens and porch area that might have been used for tying up horses when visiting the Great Hall. Environmental samples from around this area have been taken to see if they can identify any biological indicators which might reveal the use of this area.
Large Wooden Object - possible brewhouse
At the southern end of Trench 2, a large sub-rectangular hole was discovered which had been filled at a later date. The hole looks to have been filled in one episode, but contained artefacts ranging from 12th/13th - 17th century. At the base of this hole was the presence of some waterlogged wood sat within a layer of clay. This discovery was completely unexpected and is a very unusual and exciting find. This wooden object looked slightly like a door, with both long pieces of wood and horizontal cross-beams. Furthermore, this object was roughly the same size as the hole, suggesting that the hole had been dug to accommodate it.
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One possibility for this feature is that it might be the base of some kind of tank, possibly used for malting. Other known examples of malting pits consist of rectangular holes, but very few contain any preserved wood. Soil samples have been taken with the aim of analysing them to see if it contains any plant remains consistent with the brewing process. Hopefully with the application of science we might be able to shed light on this interesting feature.
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