Excavation of oldest part of Castle Cornet proposed

A proposal to excavate Prisoners Walk has been submitted by Guernsey Museum

An archaeological dig at one of the oldest parts of Castle Cornet has been proposed.

Guernsey Museum submitted a proposal to excavate Prisoners Walk - a narrow passage of medieval origins running from the Barbican to the Citadel.

It asked to excavate the area ahead of planned surface repair works.

Phil De Jersey, States archaeologist, said the area was the perfect place to search for new findings.

"Drawbridge pits, any sort of big pit like that, is good from an archaeological point of view, because if people dropped things in it they probably either couldn't or couldn't be bothered to try and retrieve them," he said.

Mr De Jersey said given the opportunity, excavation specialists could find something similar to previous discoveries.

He said: "One of the things that sticks in my mind from the 1980s work was 1984 - just the other end of the castle, the side that looks towards St Peter Port, we were digging through a rubbish tip and we found a human skeleton, which is now on display in the main museum in Castle Cornet.

"Things like that, we couldn't possibly have predicted that."

The museum proposed that any works should take place during its closed season, to minimise visitor disruption and to fit in with maintenance plans.

It hopes to carry out the work in the winter and early spring of 2024, with any discoveries to be kept by the museum.