Time Team - Codnor Castle, Derbyshire - Archaeological Evaluation and Assessment of Results

Wessex Archaeology

The evaluation involved the excavation of six trenches, three in the lower court to examine the approaches to the gatehouse and three in the upper court to explore the rear of the extant gatehouse and to trace the curtain wall of the upper court.

The trenches in the lower court encountered a large moat, approximately 6m wide and 3m deep, with substantial masonry abutments that would have supported a drawbridge. Pottery recovered from the fills of the moat indicates that this probably fell out of use and was backfilled in the 16th or early 17th century. The finds from the lower fills suggest that the moat was probably open from the early 13th century. The lower fills also produced a notable find, a gold noble of Henry V (1413-1422), struck at the London mint.

Although much of the archaeology in the upper court had been heavily disturbed by post-medieval and modern coal extraction and garden features, excavations here revealed part of the back wall of the gatehouse, which appears to have been built in the early 13th century, and parts of the northern and eastern curtain wall, including the footings of a tower or turret on the northern wall. Occupation deposits were found within the turret, although these appear to relate to a fairly late phase in the use of the castle.

The Time Team evaluation has demonstrated the extent, character and condition of the castle remains and has shown that despite the later industrial use of the area, substantial and important medieval remains survive below ground. Analysis of the finds suggests that the masonry castle was probably established in the early 13th century and continued in use until the 16th or early 17th century.