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Keltbray oversees excavation of first Civil War wooden stake defences
Cristina Lago Deputy Editor
A timber specialist undergoes conservation of one of the Civil War stakes (Credit: Wessex Archaeology)
Archaeologists at Sheffield Castle have uncovered the first surviving examples of wooden stake defences used in the English Civil War.
The first-ever large-scale professional excavation undertaken on the site was overseen by Aureos, the rebranded name of Keltbray Infrastructure Services.
The stakes were discovered during works on Sheffield city centre’s Castlegate regeneration project. All measuring around 1m in length, they were found in the castle moat and are the first examples ever recovered.
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They were used as a “vicious barrier” to defend Sheffield Castle from Parliamentarian attack during the Civil War, which was fought from 1642 to 1651.
Analysis suggests that they could have formed part of an ‘abatis’ – a well-known method of fortification constructed from large tree branches with the ends and side branches cut down and sharpened to points.
This is the first time remnants of this kind have been recovered, as archaeologists usually only find the shadow of where the wood had once been.
Ashley Tuck, the archaeologist leading the dig on behalf of Wessex Archaeology, said: “So often we are told about Civil War defences like abatises being used at historic properties across the country, but usually there is little to see of these important features.
“To be able to hold the very wood to which the defenders of Sheffield Castle trusted their lives is extraordinary. Records show that the castle finally succumbed to Parliamentarian forces after a 10-day siege in August 1644.
“We know that these timbers and the abatis they formed were ultimately unsuccessful in protecting the castle from being destroyed, but they paint a picture of the brutalities of the war and add to our understanding of this turbulent period in Sheffield’s past.”
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