Archaelogists continue surveying Argent's Mead

A team of experts are returning to Argent's Mead to find out more about the history of the castle ruins.

Last month a team of geologists and archaeologists used a drilling machine to take sediment samples from the old outer ditch of the castle in the moat area. 

The team are returning to use a sampling device to take sediment samples from the bottom of the pond. 

We know that the pond is a surviving part of a continuous ditch that would have encircled the medieval castle that once stood on the site.

The archaeologists hope that these samples will contain pollen and other plant remains that will tell us about life inside and around the castle when it was occupied, for example, what people ate and the types of crops they might have grown locally.

The work will be undertaken from pontoons that will moved onto the pond at the start of the work and the work will take one week.

A spokesperson said: "All of these works form part of the conditions needed as part of scheduled monument consent from Historic England to carry out improvement works to the moat planned for later in the year, including desilting the pond and bank stabilisation works. Once the silt has been removed we will be able to re-instate the fountain which should work a lot better as it won't then constantly get clogged up with silt."

We'll let you know what they find out!