Thankfully the rain held off this morning, so we were able to start straight away. Work in trench 1 was focussed mostly on the top section of the trench to try and get more details about how the path was constructed. We have also been excavating an area that we believed to be a ditch that was part of the castle’s fortifications.
We began the morning with mattocks in hand; with no idea how thick the layer of soil went (we are still trying to dig through it!). We were expecting to find a layer of rubble to match that in the lower trench, however, we soon found something more interesting. We found a shilling from the 1960s, and three ha’pennies from 1906, 1887 and 1861. In a moment of excitement we unearthed a piece of silver with a crest on it and while it was being cleaned we thought of how it might be some exotic treasure…..sadly the penny (or judging by today’s finds, the ha’penny) dropped and we realised we were mistaken, as it was a small pendant of a crest with ‘Torquay’ written in the banner. Still, unfazed, we went back to digging and it wasn’t long before we found another unusual object. It consists of a metal handle with a disk on top. Until this object is cleaned we cannot be certain what it is but the current theories are a small hand mirror or a magnifying glass. We still unearthed a large amount of pottery and glass, as well as a large metal rod.
By Rebecca Kelly and Nicola Main-Reade, student volunteers.
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