Taunton Castle medieval gateway discovered.

From BBC news.

Archaeologists in Somerset have uncovered evidence of a medieval gateway at Taunton Castle.

The team made the discovery during excavations as part of the Museum of Somerset Project which will see the castle restored and modernised.

The project has recently been given a boost from the Heritage Lottery Fund of £4.8m.

This will go towards the overall project costs of £6.5m. The excavations form the first stage of the project.

Somerset County Council archaeologist Chris Webster said: "Whenever we have the chance to look at the archaeology of Taunton Castle it always comes up with some surprises.

"We have removed a 20th Century gate post and discovered that a much earlier medieval gateway survives, linking the Castle's inner courtyard with structures currently in the garden of the Castle Hotel.

"Small excavations like this, undertaken with local volunteers, are gradually adding to our plan of the castle - which is, however, still very confused."

Full story here.

Field Officer's report for Prescott St. dig

Second report from the Prescot St. dig.

After recording and removing the remains of the terraced housing from the South Tenter Street side of the site, a number of earlier post medieval features were revealed. The majority of these were drainage features such as soak away’s and horn core pits. Their frequency is indicative of the rapid population growth in the area during the post medieval period, given that they would be required to deal with the influx of people. During their construction these drainage features were cut through large dumped deposits of made ground, seemingly brought in to work as capping and levelling deposits to create an even surface. This would allow the area of the site to be built upon, and can be seen as a precursor to the development in the later post medieval period. . .

Full report here.

Explorator 10.52

Explorator 10.52 is here.