Bamburgh Research Project
Bamburgh Castle is one of the most important archaeological sites in Britain, containing within its bounds layers representing more than 2000 years of continuous occupation. Surprisingly, it has attracted relatively little archaeological attention. The first excavations within the Castle occurred in the 1960s and 1970s and were resumed in 1996 by the Bamburgh Research Project. To learn more about each, use the links on the left.
Excavations in the 1960s and 1970s
Dr Brian Hope-Taylor, famous for his excavation of the Anglo-Saxon royal site at Yeavering, near Wooler, and for his work as a television archaeologist, undertook the first systematic modern excavations at the site. He conducted two campaigns of excavation the first between 1959 and 1961 and the second from 1970 to 1974. Although his investigations were quite wide ranging the majority of his excavation activity was concentrated in the West Ward of the Castle, unearthing such important finds as the Bamburgh Swords and hundreds of stycas. However, except for two brief interim reports, Hope-Taylor never fully published his findings and his records, notes, and many of the finds were not available for research until his death in 2001.Top of page
Current Excavations of the Castle: The Bamburgh Research Project
The Bamburgh Research Project was formed in 1996 by professional field archaeologists who live and work in the North East. Graeme Young, Director of Archaeology, has always had a fascination with Bamburgh since visiting the site as a boy. Having secured permission to excavate the Castle from Lady Armstrong, Graeme and his colleagues began their investigations within the Castle with small test pits, geophysics, and documentary research. A particular goal was to attempt to re-discover the burial ground that Hope-Taylor had been unable to locate in the 1960s. They were successful in pinpointing the location of the burial ground and following evaluation it became clear that they had revealed a site of major importance. Since then, the Research Project has excavated extensively within and without the Castle. Top of page
Trench 1 - Trenches 1 and 2 were the first trial trenches excavated within the Castle by the Bamburgh Research Project. They were located at the far northern extent of the West Ward. Trench 1 has since expanded to incorporate Trench 2 and form a substantial open area excavation, investigating St Oswald’s Gate and the early defences of the fortress. Top of page
Trench 3 - Excavation of Trench 3 commenced in 2001 with the intention of identifying the excavation undertaken by Hope-Taylor during the early 1970s. The trench has been expanded over subsequent seasons to encompass as much of the Hope-Taylor area as possible and extended to the east to form a parallel excavation to aid interpretation of the main site, the archive of which survives in a somewhat partial form.Top of page
The Bowl Hole – The Bowl Hole is an Anglo-Saxon burial ground that fell out of use and was forgotten by the later medieval period until 1817 when a great storm revealed it. In the 1960s Brian Hope-Taylor attempted to find the cemetery, however it wasn't until 1997 that BRP archaeologists successfully located it. Since then, the BRP has gathered a great deal of information about the early medieval inhabitants of Bamburgh, and burial practices in Northumberland, and possible later uses of the land to the south of the Castle. Top of page
Short Term Excavation Projects
Trench 4 – A trial trench located to the north of St Oswald’s Gate, to investigate a possible port, now a low lying area of ground cut off from the sea by the modern dune field. The excavation was inconclusive due to a high water table restricting the depth of excavation, however, coring has revealed a shelving beach, which may have formed the site of a medieval port.Top of page
Trench 5 (The Postern Gate) – Investigation of the 12th century and later outworks immediately outside St Oswald’s Gate. The investigation studied the phasing of the defensive structures and identified substantial surviving medieval architecture that will hopefully be consolidated in future seasons. Top of page
Trenches 6 and 7 (The Chapel) – The excavation within the Castle chapel, in the inner ward, produced very positive results. Two trial trenches were sited to investigate anomalies previously identified by resistivity and ground penetrating radar survey. A stonewall of Anglo-Saxon or Norman date was found beneath the 12th century chapel cut into deposits of Roman date. The results would indicate a long sequence of occupation within the inner ward and the potential for Bamburgh to have contained a number of stone buildings from a relatively early date.Top of page
Trench 8 – The re-excavation and recording of Brian Hope-Taylor’s first-ever trial trench within the Castle (Hope-Taylor Trench 1). The trench was located in the central part of the West Ward and is the likely location for the discovery of the Bamburgh Swords and axe. A full sequence of archaeological layers was revealed, 3m deep, extending back from the modern turf through medieval and Roman to prehistoric deposits.Top of page
Trench 9 - Trench 9 is the re-excavation of Hope-Taylor’s ‘Cutting E’, one of his trial trenches excavated in the early 1960s. Located near to St Oswald’s Gate and our Trench 1 it was incorporated into Trench 1 during 2007.
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Trial Pitting - The LHi trial pitting project was intended to provide a crude background map of archaeological activity in the village area and also to provide an opportunity for the village community to get involved in investigating their own past. The trial pits measured 1 m. sq. and were hand excavated down to the first archaeological horizon or to subsoil. Evidence of flint knapping was revealed on the west and north of the village and its medieval predecessor evidenced by the widespread distribution of medieval pottery over the whole of the village area. Top of page
Trench 1: This season, Trench 1 has been extended toward Oswald’s Gate, while another part on the seaward side is being backfilled. Excavation, therefore, has concentrated on the extension, which should help to produce a more accurate interpretation for the Oswald’s Gate area. 'In particular, the extension should reveal much more of the late Norman / early Anglo-Saxon building and the adjacent timber structure believed to be Anglo-Saxon in date.'These have already been partially exposed in previous seasons. The finds from the extension have primarily been animal bone and green glaze pottery, suggesting a date around the 14th century for the current stratigraphic layer. There is evidence of a cobbled surface within the extension and it is believed that more of this was recovered during previous excavations in Trench 1.Top of page
Trench 3: The majority of excavation has been removing a huge medieval midden, or dump, deposit that covered the whole of trench 3. Over almost the entire trench this has been successfully removed and recorded. It is incredibly rich in pottery, bone, and metalwork. Beneath this layer are a maze of building remains, possibly stables or artisan centres and dwellings. The buildings are generally quite small and show activities peripheral to the main centre of the site, where the keep stands. A block of archaeology has also been removed from modern down to the medieval in order to square the trench. This has continued to provide insight into the modern, post medieval and medieval activities on site.Top of page
Trench 9: Trench 9 was originally Brian Hope-Taylor’s trial trench “Cutting E”, was excavated in the early 1960s. Using information from the Brian Hope-Taylor archive, provided by the RCAHMS, the co-ordinates of the corners of the trench were located. Hope-Taylor’s backfill has now been removed, revealing the stratigraphic sequence of the layers excavated by him. The removal of the backfill has revealed a medieval paved surface, as well as a mortar slot and surface, possibly related to the defence network for the Castle. The mortar slot had impressions of masonry blocks in its surface indicating that the medieval stone steps had been robbed away. The north side of the trench, which Hope-Taylor had not excavated, still contained a substantial depth of stratified archaeology that we will incorporate into Trench 1 and investigate in coming seasons. Top of page
The Bowl Hole: June 2006 saw the beginning of a new three year collaborative project between the Bamburgh Research Project and Durham University, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. This project aims to fully examine the skeletons from the Bowl Hole cemetery, identify their regional origins, explore the health and quality of life of the population, and attempt to identify family groups within the skeletal sample.
The osteological analysis of the skeletal sample has revealed a great deal; the population includes men, women and children of all ages. Many of the adults were tall and well built, with few cases of infection and nutritional deficiency. Conditions including osteoarthritis, gout, ankylosing spondylitis (which causes the spine and other joints to fuse together) and developmental conditions, including a possible case of dwarfism have been identified. Dental disease (caries, calculus, abscess and tooth loss) was very common, which may indicate that they were eating a lot of bread and meat. Traumatic injuries were rare, but one young man suffered a series of wounds, probably from a sword, which almost certainly caused his death.
The next phase of the project involves isotopic analysis of tooth enamel to find out where these people grew up. Tooth enamel can provide a “geological signature” from the food and water a person consumed during childhood. This isotopic signature can then be used to identify the region where an individual grew up, and help to distinguish people who migrated to Bamburgh from elsewhere. We will also examine the ratios of carbon and nitrogen isotopes present in the tooth enamel and bone to try to find out more about the types of food they were eating. Over the next few years this project will provide a fascinating glimpse into the lives of these people who lived and died in Bamburgh around 1200 years ago.
People involved in this project: Professor Charlotte Roberts and Dr Sarah Groves, Durham University Department of Archaeology; Professor Graham Pearson and Dr Geoff Nowell, Durham University Department of Earth Sciences; Dr Sam Lucy, Cambridge Archaeological Unit
Website: http://www.dur.ac.uk/archaeology/research/projects/?mode=project&id=278
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More About Brian Hope-Taylor and the BRP
In 2005/6 the RCAHMS gave copies of the BHT archive material from Bamburgh to the BRP. This included over 100 photographs, 20 drawings and a large amount of associated material. This has helped the BRP to begin the process of interpreting the archaeology that BHT did at Bamburgh but never published. Trench 8, an old trench of BHT from 1960 was re excavated by the BRP in 2006. This allowed us to record the sections fully and take a comprehensive series of samples as well as gather small amounts of dating evidence. This demonstrates that there is a full sequence of archaeological activity in the West Ward, from Modern back to Neolithic. Work is continuing to catalogue and consolidate the finds that BHT recovered from Bamburgh in the 1970’s. These include bone, small amounts of pottery and a range of metalwork.Top of page