EDO5322 - Corfe Castle; excavations by the south curtain of the middle ward during 1949-51

G E Chambers initiated an archaeological excavation against the north face of the south curtain wall of the middle ward at Corfe Castle during 1949. The site of the excavation was adjacent to a section of the wall which had been constructed in 'herringbone' masonry and thought to indicate the site of an early building. Bond had earlier conducted an excavation on this spot in 1883 but did not produce any excavation drawings to verify his findings. [1] Two further seasons of excavation followed on the same site in 1950 and 1951 under the auspices of the Royal Commission for Historic Monuments. [2][3] The excavations established that a building earlier than the herringbone wall had existed on the site as well as a building associated with the herring bone wall. Pottery was found in large quantities and have the potential to throw light on the stratigraphy of the herringbone wall and the curtain wall of which it now forms a part. [3] A single sherd of Samian ware was found during the excavation in 1950 at a depth of 10ft and close to the site where a sherd of Black Burnished ware had been found in 1943. [2]