Bruce Castle Park community excavation, 2006

3 to 23 July 2006

Bruce Castle is a Grade I listed 16th century manor house sitting in 20 acres of parkland in Tottenham. The oldest surviving parts of the house were built by Sir William Compton, squire of the bedchamber to Henry VIII.

Finds washing

Since then the building has been modified several times by successive owners; perhaps most notably by Rowland Hill - the inventor of the penny post – who opened a progressive school for boys on the site in 1827. The castle became a museum in 1906; the community excavation forming part of its centenary celebrations.

With the help of members of the Young Archaeologists Club, work got underway in March with a geophysical survey. This survey produced encouraging results, suggesting the remains of what was tentatively interpreted as a Medieval manor house a short distance from the current building.

Trial trench results, however, were somewhat disappointing; the Medieval manor turned out to be a gravel spread. Work was then refocused. To the rear of the museum we began to look for evidence of Hill’s workshops, whilst to the front the relationship between the Tudor tower and the museum was explored.

Merit token

The resulting excavation in July was a tremendous success. Despite the hot weather, and occasional torrential rain, the excavators - primary school classes, students, volunteers from the Museum of London and Bruce Castle Museum and many of the local public, including MP David Lammy - made some remarkable finds.

Finds included Tudor brick, glazed floor tiles; clay tobacco pipes; pottery dating to the 17th century -including delft ware and green glazed wares made in the Surrey/Hampshire region; and a variety of everyday wares and animal bone which will give a fascinating insight into past life at the Castle.

More unusual finds included merit tokens from the Hill’s progressive school and a personalised toothbrush.

The excavated tower

As well as finds, the excavators uncovered a range of structures. To the rear of the Castle 18th century culverts and a substantial brick covered soak-away were the first features to be found. Later in the dig the chalk foundations of an earlier, possibly Medieval, building were discovered.

In front of the castle, a small slot was extended from the main trench up to the Tudor tower. This revealed a number of cross-shaped windows, demonstrating that the tower extends well below the current ground level. The windows lie beneath stone arches and we can speculate that further examples may be hidden beneath the arches that have not been excavated.

Work is now underway analysing and evaluating the results of the dig. We will have to wait and see what stories it will tell us!

View Photos from the excavation at www.flickr.com LAARCmanager's Bruce Castle Park community excavation 2006 photoset

With thanks to Haringey Parks Department and all the volunteers.