ARCHAEOLOGY enthusiasts baffled by the mystery of Calne’s castle have found evidence that a fortified building probably existed between the 13th and 17th centuries.

There are 29 current or disused place names containing the word castle, which suggests there was a building, motte and bailey or hill fort of some importance at the site, and motivated by the chance to solve this riddle, the Calne Castle Project was set up.

A two-week excavation at Castle Hill led by a volunteer group from the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society (WANHS), coincided with the British Archaeology Festival.

Society member Wendy Smith said: “The point of this exercise was to find out whether or not there was a castle in Calne and we have found pretty conclusive evidence that there was a castle.

“There was not a big castle like you get in Wales, or in Disney Land, but what we found was a fortified tower – it might have been part of something much bigger, or it might have been a single tower attached to a manor house.”

A team of 12-15 people spent each day digging a 10m by 10m trench in Castle Hill, where they discovered evidence of the estimated 40ft tower, and another interesting revelation was made.

“The crowning glory for us was finding a well in one of the walls,” said Mrs Smith. “The well being inside was significant because if you are constructing a fortified building you do not want the people living inside to go out for water if they are under attack.”

Nearly 1,000 people visited the area over the weekend to look at the 10,000 items unearthed, including pottery, bone and two musket shells.

Mrs Smith said: “The whole point was to carry out a project which would interest and involve the community, and obviously we managed that. We would have loved to have carried on, but we only had two weeks.”