Archaeologists found two skeletons buried in the walls of Halton Castle in Runcorn.
Claire Broadhurst, of Norton Priory, revealed today that the duo are believed to be a man and a woman, enclosed at least 400 years ago.
They were found in a lying-down position.
The find left archaeologists 'surprised', said Claire, as they were not expecting to find any human remains.
She said volunteer digger ……………. is believed to have discovered the first skeleton before alerting the professional archaeologists from the University Of Salford.
The reasons for the skeletons' presence remains unexplained but more analysis could shed light on their origin, Claire said.
Archaeologists reported the find to the police and coroner before obtaining a licence from the Ministry Of Justice to continue excavating the skeletons.
Other finds in recent weeks included an array of mysterious artefacts including animal bone, pottery, clay pipe, musket balls, glass and coins.
Norton Priory said the skeletons were ‘the most intriguing find’.
The dig was carried out by the University Of Salford with backing from Norton Priory and the help of more than 300 schoolchildren and nearly 100 volunteers.
Claire said they devoted a huge amount of effort and enthusiasm, doing everything from turf-stripping and excavation to cleaning finds and even backfilling and re-turfing the trenches.
The archaeologists and volunteers excavated several trenches, one of which explored large sandstone debris believed to be from collapsed walls.
The other revealed features cut into the natural bedrock indicating different phases of activity spanning the castle’s more than 900 years of history including a three large post-holes and a drainage channel.
Nearly 100 volunteers plus more than 300 schoolchildren helped with the dig at Halton Castle.Nearly 100 volunteers plus more than 300 schoolchildren helped with the dig at Halton Castle.
As well as various bits of green-glazed pot, the site also showed evidence from the medieval period in the shape of a substantial wall running inward from the outer castle boundary.
All the information will now be pieced together and reviewed in the hope of creating a clearer picture of what has been found this summer.
Tom Fildes, of Norton Priory, said: “The dig was an emphatic success and we can’t have hoped for better.
“The volunteers were absolutely fantastic and without them and the University Of Salford we wouldn’t know what we do today – that something rather peculiar was going on at the castle some 400 years ago.
where the dots are thats moi .....the whole article has appeared in a newspaper Ive just chopped it down a wee bit..but in a nutshell..Ive always been interested in history..when I left the prison service gave me more time to do this so I go on archaeology digs helping out as a volunteer..Im not too bad at digging and found some pretty interesting stuff so far..not so long back I was involved in digging out the first prison in Manchester and was all over the county news with that one..on this particular dig...I was going through some supposed nothing ground....the objective was to follow the line of the bedrock which was about 6 or 7 ft down ..we had already found post holes for buildings etc..when I was down about 6ft,I came across a skull..my mate then got one of the supervisors..and I moved over a bit ..and yep found another skull!!at this point the area was shut down and the professionals got to work...thats when it was discovered it was actually 2 bodies..there are a lot of details that have to be looked at yet,and the remains are now at Liverpool university...what is interesting is the history of the castle ...and what isnt mentioned in the newspaper report is .it looks as if both bodies may have been bound hand and foot,also their necks broken ..indicating that they had been prisoners and hanged..and yet they are very well to do people..their teeth are in excellent condition,and the male I believe had a leg break that had been put together professionally indicating a person of some standing..so there you go folks...obviously there are pictures but until its all sorted out I dont think they are for disclosure ..especially on an open website!!so thats what I do during the week at times ..NOT sundays thats different again..so you can see I do keep occupied..many moons ago I was into scuba diving and one of the things I did was underwater archaeology but I had to give up diving but kept the digging interest!!! watch this space when the report comes out ..probably bout 6 months...anyways enuff yakking from me....took these pics yesterday..highland cattle...mummy n baby..wat do you think?
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hope everyone is well...time to start getting the christmas deccies you think???? have a great weekend
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