Archaeologists begin Nottingham Castle dig
Experts are hoping to uncover the remains of buildings in the outer bailey
A previously "unknown" area of Nottingham Castle is being dug up by archaeologists, in a bid to learn more about medieval life.
The team of experts said they were expecting to uncover evidence of 19th Century gardens and buildings.
The month-long project is part of a wider £24m transformation of the castle and its grounds.
Archaeologists are working on the castle's outer bailey, close to the curtain wall, overlooking Castle Road.
• Heritage Lottery Fund - £12.98m
• Nottingham City Council - £5.5m
• Nottingham Castle Trust fundraising - £3m
• Regeneration/European sources - £2.5m
Ron Inglis, service manager for museums and galleries at Nottingham City Council, said: "We've been working towards having an excavation in the grounds here for a number of years.
"We're hoping this will be able to tell us quite a lot about an unknown area of the castle."
The original castle was torn down following the English Civil War and replaced with a palace
The land has never been excavated before and the dig is expected to take until 14 August to complete.
Dr Paul Johnson, from Trent and Peak Archaeology, said: "The big questions here are how the outer bailey was used in the past?
"It's an area within the castle which not an awful lot is known about in terms of archaeology.
"We've got some maps from the 19th Century and the area was used for allotments and gardens. There are some buildings recorded on that so we are hoping we might find some remains of those buildings."
Volunteers from the local community and trainees are working alongside Dr Johnson's team on the excavation.
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