Shrewsbury Castle dig to search for remains of Norman tower

The castle was built by the Normans to suppress revolt in newly-conquered Shrewsbury

An archaeological dig to discover the foundations of a Norman tower is due to get under way at the end of the week.

A team, led by Dr Nigel Baker and Dr Morn Capper, plans to excavate the top of an earth mound at Shrewsbury Castle, known as a motte, to search for evidence of the great wooden structure.

It was awarded £6,790 by The Castle Studies Trust to carry out the dig.

The "Great Tower of Shrewsbury" fell down in the mid 1200s, Dr Baker said.

This will be the third project at the castle to be funded by the Castle Studies Trust and preparatory work is due to start on 17 July.

The dig is expected to last 11 days and the aim is to get a better understanding of the structures which once stood there.

Dr Baker said the construction of Laura's Tower by Thomas Telford had been "extremely destructive" for the site

Dr Baker said: "We know this was the strongest point of the Norman castle, and was once crowned by a tall wooden tower, sometimes called the 'Great Tower of Shrewsbury'."

He said it fell down after being undermined by the river, but he hoped to find evidence of "great post holes" which would have supported the tower.

"These things were made from whole trees," he said.

Previous excavations carried out at the castle found that work carried out by the civil engineer Thomas Telford in the 1780s had damaged a lot of the site and Dr Baker said he was unsure how much evidence of the tower would remain.