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Lost medieval village potentially discovered

BBC People in archaeological trenches, digging on their hands and knees to uncover a medieval village. Mounds of soil surround them as they use trowels to scoop it out into flexible buckets. The dig is taking place on the grounds of a castle, which can be seen lurking behind trees with browning leaves in the background.BBC
People from all over the world have been trying to uncover remains of the medieval village in the Cotswolds

Archaeologists digging at a Gloucestershire castle say a stone structure they have uncovered may form part of a lost medieval village.

Work began this week to try and find the original village of Sudeley, which appeared in the Domesday book, but later became deserted.

Those participating in the dig at Sudeley Castle, near Winchcombe, have also uncovered a large amount of pottery.

Harriet Tatton, an archaeologist at DigVentures, which organised the dig, said she is "holding out hope" they will find more evidence of the village.

Harriet Tatton stands smiling at the camera as people behind her carry out the dig. Sudeley Castle can be seen in the background. Ms Tatton is wearing a burgundy t-shirt with "archaeologist" written on it in a pink font, and a green beanie with a black logo on it. Her brown hair is in a plait and she is wearing black glasses.
Harriet Tatton said the team are "still in the very early stages" of excavating the stone structure

DigVentures is a civic participation archaeology team, which relies on crowdfunding.

Among those hoping to find more of the village at Sudeley Castle are amateur and professional archaeologists based locally in Cheltenham, as well as those from as far away as Denmark, Switzerland, Canada, and the United States.

Richard Williams from York, Pennsylvania in the US is in his third year of digging at the site after stumbling upon the dig while googling something.

This year, he found an 8cm (3in) medieval knife.

"I actually wasn't sure what it was but then one of the archaeologists said it was a knife," he said.

"This year especially, we've had a lot of finds initially, so that really piques your interest and keeps you motivated to keep going."

Seven fragments of medieval pottery spaced out on a green piece of fabric, with soil and grass seen underneath it
Several fragments of pottery have been uncovered

DigVentures has been digging at Sudeley Castle for six years after evidence of a Tudor banqueting house built for Elizabeth I was discovered.

But this year's dig has uncovered some "tantalising evidence" of the medieval village.

"We have found the largest quantity of medieval pottery that we've ever had from Sudeley Castle," Ms Tatton said.

"In all the years gone by, I don't think we've had as much come out of the ground as we have in the last two days, which is really exciting for us as it gives us the sense we're in the right place for finding medieval activity."

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