Medieval castle unearthed at southwest Wales car park

A team of professional and voluntary archaeologists have uncovered what seem to be the remains of a medieval castle in a north Pembrokeshire car park, in Wales.

London, Sept 25 : A team of professional and voluntary archaeologists have uncovered what seem to be the remains of a medieval castle in a north Pembrokeshire car park, in Wales.

The dig, organised by PLANED, Cambria Archaeology and the National Park, and funded by the EU Transnational project, is taking place at the castle site in Maenclochog, beneath the village's car park.

The village of Maenclochog is located in Pembrokeshire County, southwest Wales.

So far excavators have uncovered what seems like the outer walls of a medieval castle, as well as postholes, the hearth of a medieval house and fragments of medieval pottery.

The researchers have also discovered the skeleton of a dog, which archaeologists think is likely to be a family pet dating from the Middle Ages.

"When they first discovered bones the first thought was 'Oh my goodness it's a human. But it is a dog. It looks like it was laid to rest carefully, which has lead team to conclude that it was someone's pet," said PLANED's Christian Donovan.

She said that the discovery of stonewalls, dating from the early Middle Ages, was really exciting.

"I don't think they expected to find that. It is looking as if it was a site for a medieval castle and possibly even a castle before that. We will know a lot more once the experts have had time to analyse the finds," she said.

Donovan said the dig came about after a documentary research, commissioned by the local community forum, identified the possibility of a castle existing on the site.

"The information had been passed down the generations by word of mouth but nobody knew if it was really there. The only way to find out was to dig," she said.

As of now, volunteer archaeologists, many from the local community, are being trained and are working alongside professionals from Cambria Archaeology.

Visitors to the site are given daily tours and children from local schools are also getting the chance to get their hands dirty.

"It's a living history lesson about what was in their community," the local daily Western Telegraph quoted her as saying.

Excavations at the site are continuing until September 30.

ANI