Archaeologists working on the site ahead of the development of a new station, have found three 12th Century walls from a stone building just feet underneath the station’s car park.
Archaeologist Tim Upson-Smith said: “We certainly weren’t expecting to find a stone building this well preserved and this close to the surface.”
It is not yet known what the building would have been used for in Medieval times, but it was located in the castle’s outer bailey, away from the main royal apartments.
Mr Upson-Smith said: “The royal apartments were on a higher level than this.
“The royals may have walked down here at some point, but they would have spent most of their time up in the main royal areas.”
Finds from the site have reflected the lives of the people that may have once lived there.
They have included hundreds of small pieces of pottery and many animal bones.
Mr Upson-Smith said: “We’ve had an awful lot of animal bones, including a dog’s jaw, which could have been a hunting dog from the castle, or maybe a domestic animal.”
Finds from the site will be put on display at Northampton’s museum and at the new station building, which is due to be completed next summer.
The castle was once used as a seat of Parliament. It was partially demolished in 1662 under the orders of King Charles II because of the town’s support for Parliament during the Civil War.
The remnants of the building were taken by the Victorians for building work and the site was cleared in 1859 to make way for the railway station
http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/local/part-of-northampton-s-medieval-castle-unearthed-1-4978657
Archaeologist Tim Upson-Smith said: “We certainly weren’t expecting to find a stone building this well preserved and this close to the surface.”
It is not yet known what the building would have been used for in Medieval times, but it was located in the castle’s outer bailey, away from the main royal apartments.
Mr Upson-Smith said: “The royal apartments were on a higher level than this.
“The royals may have walked down here at some point, but they would have spent most of their time up in the main royal areas.”
Finds from the site have reflected the lives of the people that may have once lived there.
They have included hundreds of small pieces of pottery and many animal bones.
Mr Upson-Smith said: “We’ve had an awful lot of animal bones, including a dog’s jaw, which could have been a hunting dog from the castle, or maybe a domestic animal.”
Finds from the site will be put on display at Northampton’s museum and at the new station building, which is due to be completed next summer.
The castle was once used as a seat of Parliament. It was partially demolished in 1662 under the orders of King Charles II because of the town’s support for Parliament during the Civil War.
The remnants of the building were taken by the Victorians for building work and the site was cleared in 1859 to make way for the railway station
http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/local/part-of-northampton-s-medieval-castle-unearthed-1-4978657
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