THIS summer’s dig at the ‘Lost City of Trellech’ has made two important discoveries.

Student archaeologists have pushed the date of the central building at the heart of the settlement to a much earlier time than had originally believed.

For the past decade university students have investigated the manor house’s complex and this year the kitchen, located in an outbuilding away from the main house was the centre of attention and they discovered an earlier construction phase that dates to the early 1300s – some 55 years earlier than had originally been documented and places it back to the time when the settlement was being established.

The site’s director Stuart Wilson explained that a substantial wall and foundations had been unearthed in the kitchen and that because the area is prone to flooding, the later phase used the original material for its own foundations.

He said: “In going through the kitchen floor we also discovered some dateable finds to prove our theory. Other finds confirm that we were investigating a kitchen fireplace and that a stone built channel leading to an oval shaped puddingstone, which we had already identified as housing a cauldron, possibly for brewing beer.

“We are uncertain of the pudding-stone’s original purpose, but it was probably a very large grinding stone that was reshaped to fit the size of the cauldron, but to remove it to find out more will require a crane, which is probably why it has stayed in situ over the centuries.”

But this was not the only revelation to be uncovered as what had previously been believed to have been a dovecote, is in fact a massive defensive tower.

Stuart added: “When we dug further down into the base of the tower we discovered that the dovecote had substantial foundations and that it was built in such a way that it was too complicated to be a mere dovecote built by the average stone masons of the time.

“This stone tower had a lot more in common with castles than manor houses.

“We believe this defensive tower would have been built by specialist French stone masons who had been employed by the DeClare family, who through marriage had connections with Edward I and was at this time was known to be building fortifications around the country.

“A tower at this location would have been very strategic as it would have had a commanding view over the surrounding landscape.”