Time Team Day 21 - Something for the Weekend

Thirty One Days of Time Team Continues with an exploration of Treguk Castle.  What will the Time Team discover about this castle?
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Tregruk Castle is one of the biggest castles in Britain.  It is also the most mysterious castle in Britain. Why was this castle so big?  There are no buildings in the castle.  It is found in the Welsh marshes and was built to keep the Welsh in check.  The owner of the castle wants to learn more about the castle.  He had worked on clearing the forest in the castle and it changed the atmosphere of the site.  What will the Time Team find out about the castle?

The inner bit of the castle is devoid of buildings.  What was going on at the castle?  Why was the castle devoid of buildings?  There should have been bakehouses, private quarters, even a great hall in the castle wall.  Geophysics will have a problem with the tree roots.  However, Mick has trench one and trench two put in at the gatehouse.  Mick points out that the gatehouse is a good place to start off the dig because people drop things in gatehouses.

Tony catches up with Mick in the garderobe, where people went to the bathroom.  This will be another place to dig for the Time Team.  People drop things down the toilet.  This will provide dating evidence for when the castle was occupied.  Another trench goes in at the garderobe.  Helen Geake catches up with a Welsh Historian to discuss the castle and the family who built this castle.

Phil discovers a clay pipe in the trench and he is one happy archeologist.  This is dateable evidence for the Time Team.  Phil believes that this hints at a later floor level and that the earlier floor was above that level.  When the owners removed the drawbridge, then the hole was dug to allow people into the castle.  In the meantime, Stewart studies the landscape and learns more about how the castle was defended.

Tony then catches up with the site director to lay out what the castle would have looked like.  The space that needed to be filled was massive.  John Gater and his crew continue to geophysics and survey the site to determine the full scale of the interior of the castle.  However, John is running into problems with the tree roots.  Stewart reports back to Mick and the castle owner talks about the earthworks he discovered that could date back to the English Civil War.  Was this castle used during the English Civil War?  How much more of the castle was changed during the English Civil War?

Phil continues to discover more modifications to the gatehouse.  On the other side of the gatehouse, the Time Team is starting to make finds.

At the end of day one, a trench goes into the castle.  This trench is to test the geophysics of the site.  Tony is relieved to be making progress on the site.  Mick talks about the gatehouse and how it may not be the main entrance to the castle.  Its placement is unusual for Mick because it would have been difficult to bring in supplies.

Who built this castle?  Why was this castle built?  Who lived in this castle?  Why did the buildings disappear?  What was going on inside the castle?  Has the Time Team bitten off more than they can chew?  Tune into this episode to find out more about the mysterious Tregruk Castle.

This episode would be an excellent one to show in a middle school history class when the students are studying castles as well as a high school history class.