CASTLE PROJECT - ADVICE PLEASE

[hyperon]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this, so take easy if I mess up! 

I have recently started metal detecting with a Whites DFX and its great for beach and have found quite a bit of modern coinage and a gold earing.

However, I was combing google maps and looking at all my friends who own land in my area and have discovered the remains of an old Castle, of which is not classed as a historical monument, yet.

The land owner was aware, by myth, that there was a castle on his land but had no idea where it was - until I turned up with the photo's. So full permission was granted and I have free roam of about 100 acres of land surrounding the Castle site.

I have spent the best part of a day scanning the inside of the remains but turned up only a small piece of lead.

Any tips on how I set out to thoroughly scan the area, what to look out for or what direction to head in? 

I have been in touch with the local University who have confirmed it as a Castle and even provided me with the name of it - it would appear that the local farming community dismantled it around the begining of 1800 in order to build houses and outbuildings!!!

[Meatslicer]

Wow, what a great chance to do some investigating!

Any idea when the castle was built? That would give an idea what it was used for, also its position and where in the landscape it sits. Which part of the country is it? If its near newport or the welsh marches it would have been used as a defensive emplacement by either welsh or english nobs against local attack or invasion. If its somewhere more central, then its more likely to be intended as an imposing residence. In west wales it could have been a minor adjuct to the medievel castle building period.

Once you know where and how its orientated, you can then work out if it was besieged or involved in fighting so you would have an idea where to look for spent ammunition or discarded weaponry.

The english civil war had a decimating effect on the population in rural parts of wales, and many of the castles were destroyed by parliamentarian forces when the won aginst the cavaliers.

Entrances would have a higher proportion of finds, purely because more people would have had to go through them to enter or leave.

Then gardens would have had a lot of activity and roads entering and leaving would again have had more traffic.

This could take years you know!

Eric

[nobby]

Eric....can you refrain from calling the English nobs please..... .....

[hyperon]

Hi Eric,

Thanks for the info, I have no idea when it was built.

I have today discovered that the university got it wrong and confused it with another castle (protected monument) some miles away.

It is located by Aberaeron West Wales, around 3 miles inland, north west facing and approx 100m X 100m inner dimensions - so its quite a sizable building.

It is situated on top of a large hill and has 2 steep sloping fields and ditch on one side, one wall that surrounds the largest side. It has a stunning view point and most of the coast is visable and on a good day has probably in excess of 20 mile view inland.

I have contacted CADW and Dept Archaeology (DA) and neither have it on record, although I have found reference to it in a book, but nothing further   - The DA are looking into it and will hopefully get back with any info they find.

I am thinking of marking it out and scanning it in a methodical approach, but need to decide what direction to head once I get outside the main walls. I would imagine it will probably take a good while to scan properly, perhaps years!!!  

[hyperon]

I have been offered some specialist assistance with the site I have discovered.

I had an email from the local Dept Archaeology: (Parts of the message have been changed to protect the location)

"Dear Hyperon

I’ve had a look at our digital maps and records and found that we have no record of a castle in that area. But on Google Earth I can clearly see the feature that you describe – roughly rectangular with what appears to be a circular feature abutting it to the East. There is also an interesting looking clump of trees on the side. It does have the appearance of a motte and bailey castle    but without a site visit this is impossible to tell. The late 19th and early 20th century Ordnance Survey maps don’t show a castle in that location.  

We were wondering   if you might be able to send us some photographs of the site as it would be good to know what can be seen on the ground. The the clump of trees (are they on a mound?) and the Northeast corner of the ‘bailey’ where the hedge line appears to follow the earthwork would be especially good to see. It would help to know if the hedge line is taller in that NE corner (i.e. is it on an earthwork bank?) than elsewhere on its line along the field boundary as it runs North East.

I will also arrange for my colleague to phone you for a chat about the site and possibly to arrange a visit. He is an expert on medieval castle sites and is very interesting to talk to.

If you do find any objects in your metal detecting forays it might help you to know that we are a recording organisation for the Portable Antiquities Scheme. We work closely with a number of individual detectorists, as well as clubs, and liaise between them and the National Museum. If you are not familiar with it, the Portable Antiquities Scheme website – www.finds.org.uk – is well worth a look."

I'm excited now, just hope I don't get pushed out and stopped from doing what I intended - Metal Detecting!  :'(

[Val Beechey]

Hi again Hyperon. Thats great news.
Don't worry about being pushed out. Not for ages anyway. Their wheels turn very slowly, unless it's a large ROMAN site. That would make them sit up and take notice.
I had a site visit to a pos.Bronze Age burial site,(not recorded) way back at the beginning of May and there's been no action yet.
Enjoy while you can.

Val

[hyperon]

I don't want to get ahead of the experts, I'm already thinking its a large Roman site 

Looking at the insignificant trash finds I have, I don't think they are too insignificant anymore or trash 

Good job I kept & documented the position of them!

[Jassy]

sounds like a fascinating project!!! has it ever been detected before???looking forward to your finds pics!

[hyperon]

Not its never been detected before (well once by me) or ploughed 

I said Roman......I meant Norman, but I'm no historian 

[Villan (Neil)]

Looks like a fantastic opportunity Hyperon  Sounds like a dream come true
Good luck with all and keep us posted 

[Jassy]

very best of luck hyperon, im sure you wont be disappointed!!!!! ooohhh the mind boggles as to what could be lying there!!!

[Chef Geoff]

Hi Hyperon and welcome to the site.
My advise would be not to expect too much at first, look out and record any man made items while digging any pottery could be very important.
If it is a classic Mot and Bailey design then as you say will undoubtedly be of Norman origin but like so many of these "castles" legend grows up around them in the neighbourhood even to the point where you say;
"it would appear that the local farming community dismantled it around the begining of 1800 in order to build houses and outbuildings!!!"
Just be aware that there were 10 times more wooden mot and bailey forts built than there stone successors and so this one may of only ever been made of wood.
Also what some of us fail or have difficulty to appreciated due to the labour involved with these fortifications is that their length of use may have been quite short, numbering weeks and months rather than years. The Romans for instance would build a marching or campaigning fort every night and then people wonder why when detecting them they don't find anything.
Luckily if it is a hilltop location as you say then natural weathering will have kept the soil build up to a minimum and hopefully within range of your detector.
As Eric has said the main areas to search would be the main access routes, the areas around a castle especially in a hostile occupied country would of been a no go area unless you wanted to meet the wrong end of a Norman arrow.
Good luck and keep us updated

[hyperon]

Hi,

Its definately of classic Motte & Bailey design and definately made of stone as parts of the walls are still standing - to some degree.

Thats not to say that it wasn't once made from wood and then later rebuilt using stone, which I understand to be common practice in certain circumstances.

There is possibly some evidence suggesting that it was standing proud around 300 years ago, which given its likely age - wasn't that long ago really.

You are right in stating that the soil has been kept to a minimum as digging was quite challenging due to the amount of stone in the ground.

Taking into account the County changed ruler every few years in 1100's, it is quite likely to have been the subject of hostilities - or there wouldn't have been much point in building it out of stone!!! Thats just my historical layman's opinion.

Just need to work out where they kept their bank ;-)

Excitement is getting pretty high now, I can't wait to get out there with the Whites DFX - although if anyone has experience on what settings to put it on, I would appreciate the feedback. Or where to post on the forum.

[Neil]

Speak to Ray or The Doc about your Whites DFX as both are very experienced with it. Ray uses it every time he detects and has hit everything from a gold stater to a hammered coin.

The Doc (Peter) used to use one and is a reliable source on its usage as well.


Cheers
Neil

[Roman (Ray)]

hi gary.
wellcome to detectingwales mate.

as the d.f.x is made in the u.s.a they,re main 3 programs are made to perform on they,re soil..they.re not to good on our soil mate.exc.coin and jewelry..coins..coins and artefacts.. go into a pre-set mode where you can make your own program and store it in the machine without loseing the program when the machine goes off.you can even give the program a name if you wish..you can store up to 3 of your own programs into the machine gary.
ive got 3 different programs myself mate here.s one of them mate.store these settings into your machine and save them.

                                              TARGET VOLUME 52
                                   AUDIO THRESHOLD 17-20
                                               TARGET TONE 215
                                        AUDIO DISC .ON
                                               SILENT SEARCH...OFF
                                           MIXED MODE...ON
                                  A/C SENSITIVITY 70
                                        D/C SENSITIVITY.42
                                     PRE-AMP GAIN .4 FOR MAXIMAM DEPTH.
                                            15 KHZ..OFF..
                                          3 KHZ..OFF.
store this program in your machine and let me know how you get on with it gary..wait for a nice signal and dig fella.lol.
all the best.
raymondo...