Archaeologists reveal castle’s medieval secrets

Volunteers, students and staff at the Auckland Castle excavation site. Credit: Jamie Sproates, courtesy of The Auckland Project. Medieval mysteries, hidden beneath the grounds of a 900-year-old British castle, have been uncovered during a major archaeological excavation. More than 90 archaeologists, undergraduate and postgraduate students, and volunteers from Durham University and The Auckland Project spent a month peeling back the centuries at Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland, as part of the latest excavation at the former home of the powerful Prince Bishops of Durham. Key discoveries include the location of the original medieval chapel, which has remained a mystery for centuries, a 13th Century kitchen and the remains of what is believed to be the oldest defensive building unearthed at the County Durham castle to date. The remnants of Auckland Castle's original 12th Century chapel has been lost beneath the Castle grounds since it was destroyed in 1646 by Sir Arthur Hazelrigg, the then Governor of Newcastle who bought the castle at the end of the English Civil War. New discovery In the course of the excavation, the foundation of the chapel's southern wall was revealed, with the rest of the building believed to be buried beneath the castle's existing bishop's study.