Photogrammetry Survey of Bamburgh Castle’s Medieval Outworks: St Oswald’s Gate and the Tower of Elmund’s Well.

In early 2023 the BRP was awarded funding from the Castle Studies Trust to undertake a series of non-invasive surveys to provide additional context to the outworks of Bamburgh Castle, focussing on St Oswald’s Gate and the Tower of Elmund’s Well. You can find out more about these in our earlier blog posts (here’s a good place to start: Director’s End of Season Excavation Round-up).

We are now in the process of finalising the associated reports and outputs and will be sharing these over the next few weeks ahead of releasing our interim excavation report. One of the surveys we undertook was a preliminary assessment of the standing masonry elements in the outworks, which will sit alongside the excavated archaeological report. To support this we also commissioned several photogrammetry surveys to create 3D models of the standing outworks and internal structures of the Tower of Elmund’s Well.

We are really excited to be able to share these with you now. Below, you can click each photo to take you to the online model, which will allow you to explore each area in detail.

3D Models of Bamburgh Castle’s Northern Outworks 2023

3D Model of Crosswall with St Oswald’s Gate

Bamburgh RP 2023: Crosswall with early form arch by Tony Liddell on Sketchfab

St Oswald’s Gate is written about as the entrance to the fortress of Bamburgh in the 8th century AD (Symeon HK, III. pg 37) and was very likely the route up onto the rock plateau since the earliest settlements. The present phase of work is investigating the entrance, the access routes up to the entrance and the structures and outworks built to control this route over many generations.

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3D Model of The Tower of Elmund’s Well

Bamburgh RP 2023: Well Room by Tony Liddell on Sketchfab

One particular area of focus was the recovery of the site of the Tower of Elmund’s Well, named in records from the 13th century (Colvin, H. M. pg 556) and onto which a cottage was constructed in the late 18th century.

The outline of the cottage/tower structure was quickly revealed during the first phase of investigation by the removal of foliage and a modest volume of aeolian sand. One of the first exciting discoveries during 2022 excavation was the presence of two splayed lights (open window-like features) in two of the walls. The discovery of the top of a stone archway that formed the entrance to the well-room confirms both the depth of the basement, there must after all be depth to pass under the arch, but also suggest that the floor level cannot be too much deeper.

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3D Model of the Postern Gate Trench 5D

Bamburgh RP 2023: Postern gate, Trench 5D by Tony Liddell on Sketchfab

The postern gate lies beyond St Oswald’s Gate and leads out to Bamburgh Village. The structure as uncovered was a single well-constructed feature of coursed squared masonry that ended abruptly and deliberately short of the rock. A further constructed face abutted the bedrock and the gap between the two faces a little more than 1m side formed what surely must have been a second gate.

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3D Model of Trench 5E with possible foundation wall

Bamburgh RP 2023: Trench 5E by Tony Liddell on Sketchfab

Trench 5E was a new trench opened in 2023, sited outside of the wall with the postern gate and the outworks. It was placed next to a short length of wall that we investigated in 2022 to see if it had once extended further. It has revealed a stone alignment that extends parallel to the two standing walls. Those of the outworks and the short wall length. So far only the upper level has been uncovered, so it is possible that it could be either a wall top or a foundation or the surface of a narrow path.

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We think being able to share these 3D models, alongside the traditional interim report, really helps others who have not been to site to visualise the structures and our progress to date.

Please check back soon to take a look at the preliminary masonry report that will add further detail to the 3D models above.

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Director’s End of Season Excavation Round-up

The focus of our work over the last three seasons has been the investigation of the outworks beyond St Oswald’s Gate and in particular the Tower of Elmund’s Well and our ongoing search to find what remains of the well within it. You can read our previous seasons excavation to round-up to here to see where we started at the beginning of this year’s dig season.

Tower of Elmund’s Well

We have been surprised, delighted and even a bit astonished just how much of the tower survives even if this discovery has involved moving a lot of rubble! The stairs down into the tower, by the end of the season, had passed through the archway and into the tower room itself. This would suggest that although we have yet to reach the floor there is less and less space for many further steps before we will reach the far wall so we feel that the floor is probably no more than 1 metre deeper, and hopefully somewhat less.

This season, with the fence that surrounds the outworks moved back a little to allow for more space, we were able to start a trench outside of the turret to the seaward side to expose the outside of the wall face.

The tower wall before the seaward side was exposed.

This was to give us a proper understanding of the width of the wall, the top of which had been altered substantially it seemed when the tower was converted into a cottage. Here, less than a metre down, we found that the wall survives wider than it appears at the top, where some facing stones had been removed. As we excavate deeper (next season) it is hoped to identify buried ground surfaces, now covered by the windblown dunes, and perhaps even the ground surface contemporary with the tower’s construction.

One of the more interesting finds from within the backfill within the tower was a well constructed metal bucket. It is of course tempting to see this as associated with the well – perhaps the last well bucket that was in use! Of course there is every likelihood that it was just another item disposed of in the backfill, along with a car wheel and other household items, but we can still hope to identify some of the machinery needed to work the well abandoned at floor level.

Allen with the bucket!

Postern Gate and Wall

This season also saw further work on the external postern gate that leads out to the village. This involved continuing the excavation immediately behind it to uncover more of the structure. The intent for this was to uncover more of the wall to help interpret it, perhaps recover some datable finds, and if fortunate, see if we could find the level from which it was constructed. We had certainly not at all expected to discover what we actually found which was a gap in the wall that was deliberate. The gap was not there because the wall had been robbed away as it had deliberately constructed faces. The width and form of this strongly suggested a second narrow gate.

The gap in the postern wall that must be a second and perhaps earlier postern gate

The outside face that looks out to the village had been blocked by a single layer of masonry to close off the gap. It was also evident that it was quite high up (on the outside) as it bottomed onto a spur of the bedrock. This means the gate was at ground level on the inside but was a couple of metres above it on the outside. There is no trace of a stair up to it, so it seems likely that there would have been a wooden stair, which perhaps would have made it a little more defensible as it could be discarded in the face of an enemy.

It does not seem to make sense that there would be two posterns next to each other so its tempting to see one as replacing the other. As the current path leads to the one that is still, in its way in use, its natural to assume that this is the later one, but this may be false as we simply cannot be sure the positions of the path in early times.

Trench 5e the new feature that is something of a flashback to T3

This season we opened a new trench on the outside of the wall with the postern gate (now two gates). The new trench was next to the short length of wall that we investigated last season to see if it had once extended further. Rather disappointingly we found that it confusingly just ended rather abruptly with no trace of foundations extending further, or even of a robber cut where once could have been removed. The new trench was opened between that wall and the postern wall and thankfully has proved to be much more interesting.

It has revealed a stone alignment that extends parallel to the two standing walls. So far only the upper level has been uncovered, so it is possible that it could be a wall top (or foundation) or just a surface like a path. It is made of dolerite and sandstone and in this, along with its width and general form, it is very reminiscent of some of the early medieval features the we saw within Trench 3 (within the castle). Here these features had been interpreted as stone foundations for timber walls. It is then very intriguing to wonder if we are seeing the same kind of feature here in the outworks, and even more interesting should the feature prove to be of similar date. One of the questions we asked ourselves at the beginning of the work on the outworks was – could we find any evidence for structures and arrangements from the early medieval period? After all we know the entrance was in use from this time and likely centuries earlier, so there must have been access routes and perhaps structures associated with this use and also control of the small port.

The new linear structure between the two standing walls that could perhaps be a wall base, with a possible ground surface to the left in the photo.

Geophysics

We were very fortunate to have a geophysical team from Southampton University with us for a few days in our final week. This was a part of the work on understanding and recording the outworks at St Oswald’s Gate that has been generously funded by the Castle Studies Trust. We will report in much greater detail on this and on the 3D recording and building survey in future blogs, as the results are worked through. As of now we have seen just enough information from the geophysics undertaken on the green in front of the castle to know there will be lots to discuss, including what at first sight may be some early features on the far side of the green. Not bad when we really only hoped to find trace of a ditch extending towards Oswald’s Gate and the port area.

Funding Success for the Bamburgh Research Project with the Castle Studies Trust

The Bamburgh Research Project (BRP) are pleased to announce that we have been successful in securing £9306 from the Castle Studies Trust (CST).

Over the next 12 months the BRP will be utilising the funding to further explore Bamburgh Castle’s medieval outworks, particularly the area outside St Oswald’s Gate where our current excavation is underway as part of our annual field school. Our project is titled ‘Contextualising Bamburgh Castle: wells, towers, mounds and more!’

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St Oswald’s Gate and the Medieval Outworks

St Oswald’s Gate and the outworks beyond lie in the area of the original entrance to the castle. It is very likely that the siege castle (named Mal Voisin in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle) was built close to this gate in AD 1095. When the main access was re-sited, the entrance here remained as an important postern. Perhaps serving a small adjacent harbour immediately to the north of the site. This area now forms the BRP’s main investigative focus. The outworks consist of strong walls enclosing a trapezoidal area with the Tower of Elmund’s Well. With a more recent wall and postern to the west.

The outworks at St Oswald’s Gate are a rare case at Bamburgh as they have not been subject to extensive rebuilding in the post medieval period. Other than the reconstruction of the tower as a cottage, the outworks represent an astonishing window into mostly unaltered medieval fabric still standing at Bamburgh.

Foreground shows the area currently under excavation by the BRP with St Oswald’s Gate visible at the top of the steps and West Ward of Bamburgh Castle present in the background.

Work to Date

Recent investigation by the BRP has revealed that a substantial structure still survives below ground. This is in the form of an L-shaped corridor and steps down into the room that is thought to be the tower basement that contained the well. The presence of two splayed narrow windows appears to further indicate that this is part of the medieval Elmund’s Tower. The 2023 excavation season aims to reveal the full extent of the tower and identify any remains of the well depicted on the 19th century survey. You can find out more about our ongoing excavations in this area by taking a look at earlier blog posts: Investigations beyond St Oswald’s Gate: End of Season Overview.

What will the CST Funding be used for?

There are two primary aims for the CST funding. The first is to contextualise our recent excavations at Elmund’s Tower through geophysical survey (GPR and Magnetometry) and undertake a preliminary masonry survey of the castle’s associated extant outworks.

The geophysical survey will provide context to the area immediately outside of the outworks and identify if the castle ditch (seen as a rock cut feature at the Great Gate) extends all the way along the front of the castle. As part of the masonry survey the project will be using photogrammetry to create a 3D model of the standing outworks and internal structures of Elmund’s Tower. The survey will be undertaken in conjunction with a metric survey of the structures outlines so that a photo-real, stone by stone, 3D photo model can be used as a management tool for future plans, including consolidation work.

The investigation of the area will be used to aid in making management decisions to ensure the preservation of the outworks. More broadly, the proposed investigations will assist the interpretation of the extensive, but more complex and disturbed stratigraphical sequences recovered elsewhere in the castle, principally the West Ward.

We will also be using the photogrammetry and geophysical surveys as an opportunity to upskill BRP staff and provide add-on benefits to students during our annual field school (July 2023).

The second focus for the funding will be on disseminating our discoveries to the wider public. Bamburgh Castle is in the process of re-focussing the story it tells the public, giving greater focus to its medieval and early medieval history through a new website, signage throughout the grounds and new displays within the castle itself. However, the medieval outworks are inaccessible to the public and there is currently no opportunity to highlight the ongoing research into this area of the castle and how the site was shaped by the surrounding topography. The funding will allow us to create and install signage for visitors with a QR code for the 3D model, granting online access to Elmund’s Tower and the wider outworks. This information will also be replicated and enhanced with the creation of a new webpage on the Bamburgh Castle website. Alongside these permanent additions we will continue to share our work through our blog and social media.

Listen to two of our Directors discuss the project with the CST

Project Directors, Jo Kirton and Graeme Young, recently spoke to the CST about the project, which you can listen to here:

Make sure you follow our blog and social media accounts to see how the project progresses over the summer. We cannot wait to share what we discover!

The Accessing Aidan Project and the BRP

As some of you may know, the Bamburgh Research Project (BRP), has been working closely with the Accessing Aidan project, lead by the Northumberland Coast AONB and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The project is in the process of exploring previously hidden secrets and insights into the lives of Bamburgh’s early medieval past (c. 450-1100). These stories have been unveiled through new cutting-edge interpretation, helping the public to re-imagine Northumbria’s Golden Age. Much of the information used is based on the data generated by the BRP during the excavation of the Bowl Hole from 1998-2007. You can read more about the excavations here: Bowl Hole Cemetery

The ossuary entrance in the crypt

In 2016 the excavated remains were interred within the crypt of St Aidan’s and the crypt and church have now become the focus for an interpretive display and unique interactive digital ossuary. It tells the story of 110 skeletons dating back to the 7th and 8th centuries unearthed from what is believed to be the burial ground for the royal court of Northumbria.

The Digital Ossuary

The Digital Ossuary is now available online, as part of the Bamburgh Bones website and contains details of all the individuals excavated from the burial ground. You can find out information about how they were buried, any grave goods recovered, evidence of trauma and pathologies and much more. In time, the project will be adding details about their diet and origin based on isotopic analysis. You can filter the ossuary entries by what we have discovered about them.

Each entry includes what we know about the individual along with a photo, drawing and map. The photo shows how they were discovered in the Bowl Hole graveyard.

The funding from the project will also allow the BRP and our research partners to bring together all the data and interpretation from the excavation into a final publication planned for next year, a seminal moment for the BRP!

If you would like to learn more about the project please visit the Bamburgh Bones website, you can also follow them on Twitter @BamburghBones and Instagram @bamburgh_bones.

 

A Day in Archaeology: the CBA’s Digital Festival of Archaeology

Have you ever wondered what archaeologists really do?  Do they just dig or are there other aspects to their work? A Day in Archaeology showcases “a day in the life” of archaeologists from all over the UK. It also explores pathways into the profession and, this year, the impact of the C-19 pandemic on individuals and organisations. The day is part of the Council for British Archaeology’s ‘Festival of Archaeology‘ and one of our Director’s, Jo, happens to work for them, so she has put together a blog post focusing on her time with the BRP and the impact C-19 has had on the project.

You can read the blog here: Jo’s ‘A Day in Archaeology’ Blog 

YAC Attack! Day 1/Round-up: Week 3

Today’s YAC attack is by some of the members of the Flodden chapter of the Council for British Archaeology’s Young Archaeologists’ Club! We were so excited to have them on site with us, and they brought a lot of energy and enthusiasm. That’s why archaeological education and community archaeology are so much fun for us here at the BRP. Through the generous support of the Mick Aston Archaeology Fund, we were able to host these future archaeologists and really give them a day in the life of an archaeologist at Bamburgh Castle.

We had our young archaeologists rotate through a few of our daily activities, with special emphasis on the environmental work of Alice Wolff. They learned to process environmental samples through flotation, sorting, and analysis. But we didn’t just help them with the technical stuff, we really wanted to explain WHY we are looking so carefully at the palaeoenvironment. We can learn a lot looking at how past communities subsisted through times of plenty and times of scarcity, and Bamburgh Castle’s long history of occupation makes it a great candidate for exploring long-term cycles of environmental stasis and change. We broke them up into teams, and their team names did not disappoint!

Team Ducky McPlatypusface running the flotation tank, gently letting the water break down clumps of soil to release any charred seeds that would float to the top.

Team Artichoke looking at the heavy fraction produced via flotation, as well as some small finds that were in the sample.

Describing the soil before processing via the flotation tank.

Analysing some seeds under the microscope.

Both teams spent time with Alice (above), but also got to work with Tom Fox on some finds washing and Tom Howe and Kelly Tapager in the trench.

Finds washing and intro to zooarch with Tom Fox.

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Excavating The Porch with Tom Howe.

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Round-up:

This week had some up-and-down weather, and it was quite windy atop our perch in the West Ward. Regardless, we made some great progress throughout the trench.

The western wall just north of the BHT mortar mixer and the section adjacent to said mortar mixer now are some lovely sections, which our students cleaned and planned. On the way down, we found an interesting flattened aluminum cylinder that launched a day-long research dive you can read about here. Here we are taking an environmental sample:

The cobbles in the southeast corner of the trench lay mostly untouched this week, but the sondage near the entrance ramp to the trench was extended and it approaches the cobbles to the south at a fair clip.

In the northwest corner of the trench, that weird section we always go on about, we’ve decided to divide it into quarters. We excavated the southeast quadrant and then took an environmental sample of the northwest quadrant which included a large patch of charcoal smears and orange clay.

The environmental department has a new serif tank (link to twitter) we’ve named HMS FloatyMcFloatface. We’re telling everyone that we planned to name it after David Attenborough but took a popular vote and Floaty won as a write-in. Too soon? Too soon.

In terms of finds, we might have been a little spoiled the past two weeks, so we aren’t too worried that we’ve mostly been finding vast quantities of animal bones. Finds supervisors Tom Fox has been using these animal bones to run sessions on zooarchaeology identification. We sat in on a few between tours and it was a great refresher for the basics, but also completely changed the way the rest of us non-zooarch-experts look at the animal bones that comprise the majority of our bulk finds.

We also have two metal…somethings. The copper alloy object may be a strap-end that’s now clogged with soil. The lead object looks like a thin, rectangular piece of lead was rolled up to create a cylinder, or possibly rolled upon itself to give a spiral cross-section.

Bamburgh Castle Early Medieval Metalwork Conservation: Iron Objects

As part of the Bamburgh Research Project’s (BRP) funding from the Society of Antiquaries of London (SOA) (learn more about the project here: SOA Funding Success), the BRP have been working with a conservator to identify metal objects that may require additional research and conservation to help preserve them and, in some instances, reveal new details about their form or decoration. The latter is particularly pertinent for iron objects, as corrosion often masks the finer detail of many objects.

Funding from the SOA and Bamburgh Castle has enabled us to have all the early medieval metalwork from the castle conserved. We recently received the conservation report for all the iron objects. Below you can see some of the before and after images of key items from the assemblage.

Angled back Seax with fuller and whittle tang. Swirls indicative of pattern welding, seen in x-ray and during conservation.

 

Object BC08 6531 sf 3234 has been identified as a small C-shaped fire-striker of probably eighth to tenth-century date, but further research would be required to confirm this.

Each conserved item is returned to the BRP with before and after photographs and an individual conservation report, noting what work has been undertaken, any suggested further work required and how to best store the object(s) in long term storage. You can see an example of such a report here: Iron Fire-striker Conservation Record

Eventually, we aim to create a new museum display within the Castle, so visitors can see the conserved metalwork and learn how this material has added to our understanding of the sites development, particularly in the West Ward of the castle where we have discovered a 9^th-10^th century metalworking area.

Join the Bamburgh Research Project as part of the Festival of Archaeology

The Bamburgh Research Project (BRP) will hosting a weekend of free activities as part of the Council for British Archaeology’s annual Festival of Archaeology.

Join the BRP on the 20^th or 21^st of July to explore 2000 years of activity at Bamburgh Castle on their annual excavation within the West Ward of Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland.

The BRP have been excavating through 2,000 years of occupation at Bamburgh Castle. As we excavate, we undertake environmental sampling of the different archaeological layers. These are processed on the trench-side where bones, seeds, charred remains and small artefacts (including coins, gold-filigree decoration and beads) are recovered.

As part of the Festival of Archaeology the BRP are hosting four half-day sessions where members of the public can work with our Environmental Supervisor to process our samples and record the material we recover. This will include specialist training with a flotation tank, tuition in recording the processed material and identification of archaeobotanic material in our on-site lab funded by the Mick Aston Archaeology Fund.

To book your place simply visit the Festival website and follow the instructions: sign-up to the BRP Festival event

 

Update on our Metalwork Project

As part of our Society of Antiquaries grant for our West Ward metalwork project, we have funding to cover the conservation of all the early medieval metalwork that was x-rayed and assessed  at the end of 2018 (you can learn more about this project here: SOA Grant). This funding has been generously added to by the Bamburgh Castle team, as they had a little under-spend in their own conservation budget. The objects we are conserving will eventually go on long-term display within the Castle and be available to future researchers.

As a result the conservation work will be ongoing for a while we thought you would enjoy seeing a couple of examples of the work undertaken so far below:

Small find 8278 from Trench 3, West Ward, Bamburgh Castle found in 2011. The corrosion has been cleaned away to reveal a strap end with a zoomorphic design and even some traces of leather to which it was likely attached.

Small find 10708 from Trench 3, West Ward, Bamburgh Castle found in 2017. The corrosion has been removed to reveal a complete silver pin.

If your excited by the thought of finding something similar yourself then do join us on the dig this summer – details about out annual field school can be found here.

Public Outreach in Bamburgh Village

Julie Polcrack, Public Outreach Officer here!  The main goals of public outreach efforts this season were to: 1) give the public a basic understanding of archaeological excavation and post-excavation practices, 2) allow the public to ask questions about archaeology in general, 3) inform the public about our current findings at the castle, and 4) encourage a general interest in cultural heritage. We sought to accomplish these goals through trench side activities, hands-on activities in Bamburgh Village, and public lectures in the Bamburgh Pavilion. These activities were made possible by a grant from the Mick Aston Archaeology Fund supported by both the CBA and Historic England. To learn more about this please see Community Outreach Activities and Bamburgh Outreach 2018.

Every day, on the trench-side, we have been engaging visitors with various core post-ex activities, predominantly undertaking finds washing and sorting. This has provided the opportunity for visitors to handle the artefacts as they are excavated from the trench. Our activities down in Bamburgh Village have also involved hands-on learning. Below are some examples of the types of activities we created to help visitors understand how we draw information from the finds we unearth during our excavation.

Members of the public reading about excavations at the castle and looking at pottery

Activities

What Is It?: Mystery Artefact Demonstration

This activity is designed to demonstrate how archaeologists use artefacts to discern how past people lived. We ask our participants to first hold the object and then guide them through identifying what the artefact is. We also ask them to describe the object. It works best if you ask people to pretend that they cannot see the object and describe it as though they are on the phone. They commonly describe what the artefact is made of, its size, its shape and potential uses for the object. This activity gets them really thinking about the artefacts and begins the interpretative process.

A replica salt cellar, bone spindle whorl, and whetstone

To guide your participants, you must give hints and clues that lead them to the proper conclusion. Typically you give hints about the period of time when the artefact was made or the context in which the artefact was used (e.g. – textile making). In this activity, the public gets an idea of what archaeologists have to do when they excavate an artefact and have to identify it. It also encourages participants to think about what types of objects they will leave behind for future archaeologists and what it will tell them about life today.

Participants trying to figure out the mystery artefact

Pottery of the Past

Using pottery sherds from the assemblage uncovered at Bamburgh, we can give the public a tangible way of seeing the different time periods our site spans. When going from Roman Samian ware to Anglo-Saxon pottery, you can ask participants about the physical differences they see and then explain what lies behind these differences – type of clay, inclusions, glaze, slip used in the pottery; where the pottery was made; when the pottery was made; whether it was made on a wheel or it was hand thrown; etc. You also try to ask questions that will get your participant to think about the nature of preservation and why archaeologists typically find sherds instead of whole pottery vessels.

After showing off the Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Medieval pottery to participants, we will offer different activities to complete. Children and parents can put together a paper pot that they can take home with them or they can try to reconstruct a broken plate. Both of these activities get people to consider pottery reconstruction and the reconstructive nature of archaeology as a whole.

Participants reconstructing a paper pot

Participants reconstructing a broken plate

Worked Bone Artefacts

The Bamburgh Research Project has a substantial collection of worked bone finds uncovered in excavation and a number of replica bone tools and objects from friend of the project, David Constantine. This entire collection not only gives the public an insight into the type of finds we uncover, but it also shows them the variety of uses for animal bone in the early medieval world.

Bone pin

Medieval bone die

Replica bone pins made by David Constantine

Cow metatarsal

The trench-side and Bamburgh Village activities, supported by the free lecture series, are aimed at encouraging Bamburgh residents and visitors to explore the areas history, learn a little about archaeology and hopefully have a bit of fun along the way. We hope to expand our outreach over the next 12 months, so watch this space!