Time Team Day 23 - Every Castle Needs a Lord

Good morning!  The Thirty One Days of the Time Team continues and October is quickly winding down.  After a couple of episodes from the new Time Team, I am going to throw it back to an older Time Team.  Today’s episode is coming from Season 9.  This episode is called Every Castle Needs a Lord and it has a run time of 49:47.

In the village of Henly-in-Arden, there used to be a castle.  It was as grand and important as Warwick Castle.  However, all that remains now is a large hill and a large stone.  The local town has called the Time Team to investigate.  What did this castle look like?  Why did this castle disappear?  The challenge for the Time Team is to dig a scheduled Ancient Monument, so will they overcome the challenges that English Heritage throws their way?

For more than three hundreds year a castle stood on this hill.  Eventually the castle disappeared without much of a trace.  There are very few records about the castle, particularly records as to what it looked like in its heyday.  English Heritage declared this a scheduled monument in the 1930s and is very interested in what the Time Team can learn about the site.  Mick and Tony go over the targets that the Time Team would like to get. 

The hill is divided into several distinct areas.  The Geophysics is working on the highest point on the hill.  Trench one goes in over a lower part of this hill.  There is masonry discovered in this trench, but is this part of a wall?  Stewart is going to learn about the landscape in the area.  Tony is disappointed with the geophysics results.  However, John points out that there seems to be a big block of buildings on the site.

Another trench goes in and Phil discovers some masonry.  Eventually Tony makes a call to the owner of the hill.  The owner is an American, who bought the title to go with the castle.  He has visited the area many times and has donated money to the town.  The Time Team has also organized the locals to bring what they had found over the years.

Phil continues to make his way through the demolition rubble.  Robin has been digging into what remains of the records to see what he could find about the castle.  The earliest reference that mentioned the castle was from the time of Empress Matilda.  It would have been built between 1086 and 1100.  The original owners were the sidekicks of the Earls of Warwick.  This family would have been an important player in county politics.

In trench two, Phil continues to make some finds including roof tiles and stones.  The signs are encouraging for Phil and the Time Team.  Another tile was discovered, which was similar to what the locals were discovering.  Now Phil wants to find some more.  In Trench One there is something more substantial being found.  Eventually, this trench is shut down, much to Tony’s disappointment.  Trench three has gone in on this site as well and Carenza is also making some interesting discoveries.  One of those finds was a piece of window glass.  Phil is also discovering some “splendid rubble.”

On day two, Tony catches up with Mick.  He is increasingly frustrated that the Time Team has not made any finds for a building on the site.  However, there have been discoveries along the side of the hill of tiles.  Trench four goes in on this hill, perhaps this is the site of a gatehouse.  Trench One shows signs of a building, while Trench Two and Trench Three.  The signs are good for trench four.  What was going on with this castle site?  Why did it disappear?  What will the Time Team continue to find on this site?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out.

There was a mystery on this site and the Time Team navigated this mystery very well.  I was pleased to see that English Heritage was gung-ho with the dig.  The archeology was very good and there was a good discussion on what was going on at this site.  I would show this to a history classroom.