Archaelogists have returned to Sudeley Castle to continue the excavation of a Tudor banqueting house.

Since Tuesday, October 19, archaeologists from DigVentures have been continuing to uncover the house which was first identified two years ago.

Sudeley was one of the Tudor royals’ favourite estates and is today one of the Cotswolds most popular attractions.

Cotswold Journal: Archaeologists have returned to the site to continue an excavation that began in 2019Archaeologists have returned to the site to continue an excavation that began in 2019

In 2019, during a two-week dig, DigVentures discovered walls, architectural stones and the remains of a large Tudor garden, along with artefacts such as pottery, cooking ware and butchered animal bones.

Experts believe the site originally played host to a huge celebration for Elizabeth I, held on the anniversary of her victory of the Spanish Armada in 1592.

Plans for further investigation in 2020 had to be postponed but now the team have returned and their excavation comes to an end tomorrow, Sunday, October 31.

Lisa Westcott Wilkins from DigVentures said: “We are absolutely delighted to be returning to Sudeley Castle to resume this important investigation. The remains of this banqueting house, which will be revealed for the first time in nearly 400 years, have the potential to tell us so much about an essential, but much less well understood, part of Tudor power and politics”

She added: “Unearthing the remains of one of Elizabeth I’s biggest parties will obviously be exciting enough in itself, but it also gives us this huge opportunity to create one of the first archaeological footprints of one these sites. In turn, it could help us develop a much better picture of this ‘outdoor infrastructure’ that the Tudors developed, in which to conduct their politics and exert power”

General manager at Sudeley Castle, Shane Samarawikrema, said: “This will be the most significant archaeological investigation to have taken place in the castle grounds since the discovery of Roman villas on the estate in Victorian times. It is thrilling that a long-forgotten piece of Tudor history will be made visible for the first time in nearly 400 years, and it goes to show that even when we think we know a place’s history, there are still plenty more stories to be uncovered.”