Archaeological digs shed new light on medieval history of Clare

New details about life in Clare between the 12th and 14th centuries have been unearthed, following the first stage in a long-term community archaeology scheme at the town’s castle country park.

A three-week series of excavations at the park’s outer bailey, which took place as part of an ongoing Heritage Lottery Fund project at the park, concluded on Friday.

A team of local volunteers, led by members of Suffolk Archaeology, uncovered a significant number of structural foundations, and items such as medieval items, iron and animal bones.

Jo Caruth, senior project officer at Suffolk Archaeology, told the Free Press they were “pleasantly surprised” by the amount of finds, stating the evidence indicates the outer bailey would have been a service area for the main castle.

“It’s all new information. We knew very little about the park,” she said.

“What we have been able to do is characterise the activity that was going on in the outer bailey.

“We had all kinds of volunteers. We had 87 adults and 17 children. We are really pleased with the response we had.

“The people of Clare really love their history. We had an ongoing process of talking to people as they walked through the park, and showing them bits and pieces, so they start to realise what’s at the heart of the country park.”

She added that the finds will now be washed and quantified, before being passed on to period specialists to allow for more detailed examinations.