SDO10303 - Excavations at Sherborne Old Castle. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society

C.E. Bean continued excavations at Sherborne Old Castle in 1953-4. The Well: An E-W trench was dug to the north of the beech which is the traditional site of the Castle well. This revealed a circular well of Ham stone, 4.5 feet in diameter and 6 feet below the present ground surface. The well was excavated to a depth of 42 feet at which point water seepage rendered further work impracticable. The well had become square in plan at this point and the bottom was probably not much further below. The dressed strone steining ran out at 28 feet deep. A large 14 inch square upright timber lay at the base of the well. The fill contained building debris from the Norman period onwards. The well head also produced much domestic refuse from the 13th century along with traces of timber gear. The 12th century appears to have been altered when the hall works were carried out c. 1221-3. Post holes, possibly of a wooden building, extended westwards at the 13th century level. Buildings against the west wall: a N-S aligned stone foundation ran parallel to and 17 feet inside the line of the west curtain wall. This wall had gaps for entrances and may represent the foundations of a timber building. A piece of 12th century bevelled Ham stone was inscribed with a ‘Nine Men’s Morris’. Buildings at the SE corner of the curtain wall: The remains of substantial buildings were revealed at the SE corner and along the southern curtain wall, for at least 175 feet in all, and of at least two phases. Fragments of human bones found all over the site are thought to antedate the 12th century castle as suggested by the absence of building debris in their fills. Some of the graves have rounded ends.