Norman

Norwich Castle & Art Gallery

Norwich’s imposing Norman keep has reopened after a five-year transformation project, boasting an interior restored to 12th-century finery and an atmospheric new medieval gallery. Carly Hilts reports.

Post 1 image0 22 1024x676

The hunt for Hyde Abbey: piecing together the layout of a royal monastery in Winchester

Built c.1110 on the outskirts of medieval Winchester, Hyde Abbey was an important religious centre, housing the burial place of Alfred the Great and his wife and son. For the last five years, community excavations within the area of the long-demolished monastery’s cloisters have been shedding light on the complex’s layout – and this summer, Carly Hilts visited the dig to find out more about their latest findings.

A story of two castles: tracing the origins of two fortifications in the March of Ewyas

Straddling the border between Herefordshire and Monmouthshire in the lee of the Black Mountains, the parish of Longtown has the remains of two castles. One is a popular visitor attraction in the care of English Heritage, with a stout-walled round keep. Half a mile away is another, in the form of a large earthen mound. When the members of the Longtown & District Historical Society decided to investigate, they realised that little was known about either castle, so they set out to find out when they were built, by whom, and why there were two in such close proximity. Current Archaeology's Chris Catling reports.

Photo: David Dixon (cc by sa/2.0)

News in brief

Surveying Dunfermline Abbey A recent project led by Dr Michael Penman from the University of Stirling in partnership with Historic Environment Scotland has conducted a series of ground-penetrating radar surveys of Dunfermline Abbey, revealing the possible layout of the original…

LEFT Overlooking the remains of a Victorian greenhouse recently excavated at Shrewsbury Castle.

Surprising finds at Shrewsbury Castle

Archaeological investigations at Shrewsbury Castle have provided surprising insights into the make-up of some of its defences. The castle was founded by the Normans and reworked in the 13th century, and the imposing ramparts, crowned with curtain walls, that surround…