Norman motte found in Shrewsbury Castle dig

Now in its second week, the team of experts have so far uncovered shards of Georgian pottery, clay pipes and tree pits.

But now they are delving in to the lower layers of the inner bailey and have found the remains of a motte or ditch which would have surrounded a castle or camp.

Also found in the soil are Medieval pottery and bones.

The dig, the first of its kind to be held within the environs of the castle, is a collaboration between Shropshire Council and University Centre Shrewsbury and is being led by county archaeologist Dr Nigel Baker.

Dr Baker said: "The last 24 hours have been the most exciting of the dig.

"What we thought had been a road a few days ago seems to be natural gravel. This normally would be bad news I must admit, the at the far end of the trench we have got something completely different. We have got a very large hole which we can tell from the geophysics is encircling a large motte and what it looks like is that it is a great defensive ditch which the Normans dug around the edge of the motte.

"The ditch is absolutely full of medieval pottery and other finds plus other rubbish that has been chucked during the early life of the castle."