Archaeologists excavating the historic Sheffield Castle site have uncovered rare 17th-century wooden stakes, believed to be defenses from the English Civil War, in the castle's ancient moat. The stakes, measuring about one meter in length, were used to form a defensive barrier known as an abatis around the Royalist-controlled stronghold.
The team, led by archaeologist Ashley Tuck, made the discovery during ongoing excavations as part of the Castlegate regeneration project, according to BBC News. These are the first surviving examples of such wooden stake defenses from that period.
"The stakes would have been driven into the ground to create a formidable obstacle for attacking forces," Tuck explained. "To be able to touch something that they touched, that's electric," he said, according to BBC News.
The wooden stakes, made from ash and elm, were crudely prepared and about three feet in length. According to Tuck, the choice of wood implied the stakes had been hastily crafted from local trees, indicating the urgent circumstances during the siege of Sheffield Castle in the English Civil War.
During the war, Parliamentarian forces besieged the Royalist-held Sheffield Castle, capturing it after a ten-day siege in August 1644. The castle was subsequently demolished by a motion in the House of Commons to prevent it from being reused as a fortress.
The stakes are believed to have been part of an abatis—a defensive barricade designed to slow down attackers. The waterlogged conditions of the moat provided ideal preservation conditions, allowing the stakes to remain intact for almost 400 years, which the archaeology team noted is unusual.
Tuck noted that the stakes were found in front of the medieval gatehouse, a crucial entry point to the castle. "We're trying to empathize with them and understand what they were going through," Tuck stated.
"These timbers and the abatis they formed were ultimately unsuccessful in protecting the castle from being destroyed," Tuck said. "But they paint a picture of the brutalities of the war and add to our understanding of this turbulent period in Sheffield's past," he added.
The remains of Sheffield Castle have long been a subject of archaeological interest. First constructed as a motte and bailey following the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, the castle is viewed by many as the birthplace of Sheffield.
Among the notable figures associated with the castle is Mary, Queen of Scots, who was imprisoned there at various times between 1570 and 1584.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.