Archaeology: Bamburgh Research Project trailer

Archaeology
Bamburgh Castle is one of the most important archaeological sites in Britain, containing within its bounds layers representing more than 2000 years of continuous occupation. Surprisingly, it has attracted relatively little archaeological attention. The first archaeology excavations within the Castle occurred in the 1960s and 1970s and were resumed in 1996 by the Bamburgh Research Project. To learn more about each, use the links on the left.

Archaeology Excavations in the 1960s and 1970s:

Dr Brian Hope-Taylor, famous for his excavation of the Anglo-Saxon royal site at Yeavering, near Wooler, and for his work as a television archaeologist, undertook the first systematic modern excavations at the site. He conducted two campaigns of archaeology excavation the first between 1959 and 1961 and the second from 1970 to 1974. Although his investigations were quite wide ranging the majority of his excavation activity was concentrated in the West Ward of the Castle, unearthing such important finds as the Bamburgh Swords and hundreds of stycas. However, except for two brief interim reports, Hope-Taylor never fully published his findings and his records, notes, and many of the finds were not available for research until his death in 2001.