Archaeologists search for traces of Lydney Elizabethan manor

Prof Mark Horton is keen to see any objects previously found at the site

Archaeologists are asking the public for help in finding out more about a former Elizabethan manor house.

Whitecross Manor, in Lydney, was built in the 1570s for Admiral Sir William Wyntour, and stood in what is now the Dean Academy's playing fields.

It was burned down and demolished in 1645 during the English Civil War.

It is hoped that local people and former Whitecross School students can assist the architects from the Royal Agricultural University.

The investigation is being led by Prof Mark Horton, who hopes local people may have photographs that could help with the team's research.

Prof Horton said: "This site was originally investigated in the 1970s and mid-1980s, as well as briefly in 2003, but many of the early finds were sold or dispersed before the Dean Heritage Centre opened and there are few records of the previous archaeological investigations."To help us reconstruct what was there as best we can, we are very keen to track down any objects that may have been found all those years ago.

"Perhaps people have photographs they took at the time which they might be able to share with us?"

Dr Henry Webber from the Royal Agricultural University has undertaken a radar survey in the grounds of the Dean Academy

Prof Horton added that a number of Whitecross School - the former name of the Dean Academy - students took part in previous site digs, and they may have information and artefacts.

"We have already met some who were very helpful and had a pipe from the 1660s, but we would be really pleased to hear from anyone who has anything connected to this site," he said. Among the missing finds is a near complete Elizabethan rapier, which was sold at auction in 1958, as well as numerous potsherds and pipe fragments. The project aims to combine new and old evidence to give a complete view of the house and also its relationship to the old Lydney quay, which came close to St Mary's Church. Richard Brand, headteacher of the Dean Academy, welcomed the new investigations.

"It will be a great opportunity for our pupils to learn more about the history under their own playing fields and for the opportunity to work with academics from one of Gloucestershire's universities in solving these historical mysteries," he said.