SDO10302 - Excavations at Sherborne Old Castle; Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society

C.E. Bean continued excavations, started in 1951, on the site of a mound on the east side of Sherborne Castle and moat during 1952. Two further buildings were discovered [buildings 2 and 3] in addition to that excavated in 1951 [building 1]. Building 2 was located on the north side of he mound, approximately 35 feet east of building 1. Its walls, foundations and plan were similar to building 1, lying E-W with evidence for two clasping buttresses in the NW and SW corners. An internal longitudinal wall formed an aisle on the south side, 6 feet wide. The building measured 94 feet x 23.5 feet internally and has a floor of loose stone and gravel. The dressed stone and wall cores seem to be 12th century and built by Bishop Roger. A trial trench was also made on the south side of the mound, near the present pleasure ground wall. Evidence for building 3 was found here, parallel with building 2 but 96 feet south of it. It was of similar character, with an longitudinal wall forming a northern aisle, traceable only by filled in wall trenches (not robber trenches). The building measured 66.5 feet by c. 25 feet internally, although the west wall was not certainly identified and may have been destroyed by a civil war trench. The only pottery from the excavations was a single sherd of red sandy ware. C.E. Bean also made a trawl of records held by the Digby estate agents, Messrs. Rawlence and Squarey. In this he found refernce to the discovery of a flint corbelled vault in 1899, measuring 7 feet 3 inches long, 2 feet wide, 11 feet deep and aligned N-S. It was located 87 feet north of the castle in a line with the inner wall of the western wing of the castle. The fill contained 17th-18th century pottery, but the date and purpose of the construction are unknown.