Archaeological work to be carried out on Sleaford Castle

Fresh archaeology work is set to be carried out at Sleaford Castle.

They have now received permission from Historic England for a limited range of invasive archaeology to be conducted, with work set to commence over three days from July 19 to 21 on the Sleaford Castle site.

Garry Titmus from the Sleaford Castle Heritage Group said: “This is an exciting development, with the only previous excavations being conducted in the 1860s.

"For several years now the Sleaford Castle Heritage Group (SCHG) has had the central aim of promoting awareness of Sleaford Castle to the local population and to inform future interpretations and access opportunities of the Castlefields site.”

One of the few remaining pieces of stonework on the site of Sleaford Castle.

Now, in collaboration with Sleaford Town Council, Archaeological Project Services of Heckington has been engaged to carry out both an auger survey (boring soil samples from the ground) and to excavate small test pits.

Five test pits are planned with the objectives to help establish the form of the castle and to confirm its past interpretations, if possible to date the building and any features of special interest and assess the state of preservation of the buildings and any features of special interest present.

Although these pits will be small (2m x 0.5m) and shallow the team will be prepared for the possibility of unearthing artefacts.

Twelve holes will be hand-augered across the moats and presumed fishpond areas to identify the nature of the water features in order to identify any change in the character of wet areas compared to others and to understand the deposits and their state of preservation.

Mr Titmus said: “It may take up to five weeks to conduct all the analysis from the work but the results should provide us with a unique insight into the lay out and use of the water features around the castle.”

All the work will be carried out by archaeological specialists only. However, members of the public are welcome to visit the site off Castle Causeway during the week and it is hoped that volunteers from the SCHG will be available to provide more information on the project and answer questions.

Further details will be published when known on the Sleaford Castle Heritage Group Facebook and Sleaford Town Council website.