Site Event/Activity record ECH3838 - Aldford Castle Excavations 2000

Summary report of archaeological excavations carried out in the bailey at Aldford Castle. The aim of the excavation was to examine the nature of the survival of remains in the bailey. Excavation consisted of two trenches, one a re-opening of the trial trench excavated in 1999 and the other a trench across a section of the bank and ditch around the eastern side of the bailey. Evidence recovered from the bailey suggested that there might have been a series of post built structures, possibly associated with a cobbled area. These timber buildings were deliberately and systematically destroyed in the medieval period. A clay bank was then built over part of the area where the structures stood, probably in the late 13th century. This clay bank may be the remains of an earthen wall mentioned in a 1286 dispute regarding services due at Aldford Castle. The eastern bailey ditch was found to have been heavily modified in the post-medieval period. Most of the sequence of medieval cuts and fills in the ditch were destroyed in the 19th century when the ditch was drastically re-cut and filled with building debris and red clay. What remains of the bank may originally have been constructed in the 13th century or later. Whether this is a replacement for an earlier bank is unknown The finds assemblage is predominately medieval and post medieval. Ceramic building materials, pottery and glass form the principal group of artefacts. The Bailey was clearly occupied during the 13th and 14th century. Unfortunately there was no evidence relating to any occupation or use of the site earlier than the 13th century or to the date of the abandonment of the site