Got a thing for the Tudors? Love fine architecture, rich clothes, and powerful queens?
This dig is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help archaeologists investigate the scene of an epic party attended by Elizabeth I, and unearth an original Tudor garden…
For nearly a thousand years, Sudeley Castle has been home to some of the most famous monarchs in English history. Starting with Goda, daughter of King Ethelred the Unready, the castle was later occupied by Richard III, who built its magnificent banqueting hall, and then by King Charles I, who made it his temporary base during the English Civil War.
But it was the Tudors who really made Sudeley their own: it’s where Henry VIII stayed with Anne Boleyn while he made his decision to begin the Dissolution of the monasteries; where Katherine Parr, Henry’s last wife, later lived and was finally laid to rest; and where Elizabeth I famously attended an epic three day party celebrating the defeat the Spanish Armada.
Set against Gloucestershire’s beautiful Cotswold Hills, visitors can enjoy walking among its many public rooms. But its history is not just on the inside…
Unearth an original Tudor Garden
In the 19th century, masonry and other items were recovered from a mysterious hump in one of the castle’s nearby fields.
Now, a recent geophysical survey has revealed that this hump is surrounded by the ghostly layout of a nearly perfect, undisturbed Tudor garden.
Many of England’s Tudor gardens were swept away by the popular landscaping movement inspired by Capability Brown.
Thankfully, Sudeley Castle seems to have escaped the craze, making this ‘ghost garden’ one of perhaps only two remaining gardens in England where the original Tudor paths survive.
This is really rare because most of the Tudor gardens are so called ‘improved’ or dug over, or just ruined in subsequent centuries. But in Sudeley Castle we have a place that is virtually unspoilt… and I’m thrilled to see what DigVentures will find next summer – Philippa Gregory, author and historian
Investigate the scene of Elizabeth I’s epic party
As if the tantalizing prospect of re-discovering a rare Tudor garden isn’t enough, there’s yet another intriguing piece of history hidden among the rosebushes.
We know that Queen Elizabeth I visited Sudeley Castle in the summer of 1592, while on a tour of her kingdom.
Celebrating the anniversary of the defeat of the Spanish Armada, Elizabeth and her retinue embarked on three days of such extravagant partying that it nearly bankrupted her host.
This epic celebration has been described as one of the longest in royal history. But where, oh where, did it take place?
Based on the geophysics and masonry already found, we think it was right in the middle of the ‘ghost garden’! In 2018, test-pitting revealed that the mysterious ‘hump’ contains a platform, similar to other temporary structures of the period associated with Elizabeth I’s progresses around the country. In short, she partied in the garden, rather than an indoor banqueting hall!
Help us recover the evidence
There’s a tremendous amount of history in the ground there and no one has seen it since it was buried – Philippa Gregory
Gardeners, archaeologists, and history-lovers unite! Grab your trowels, because with your help, the answer is YES.
In fact, it’s so exciting that Philippa Gregory (yes, she who wrote The Other Boleyn Girl!) will be joining the team in 2019.
Support this dig and you can excavate alongside our team, join us in the Finds Room, or follow our progress online as we uncover one of the last remaining Tudor gardens in England…
When the grand pages of history are dominated by castles, manor houses, and fortifications, it’s easy to think of gardens as little more than decorative doodles, but just as deer parks were used to cement social and political relationships in the early 16th century, Tudor gardens became places to entertain, feast, and to display newly found wealth, success and power.
This was especially true during the reign of Elizabeth I, whose love of display accelerated the creation of increasingly elaborate gardens.
Unlike her father, for whom it was unthinkable that any noble might live in more splendid surroundings than his own, Elizabeth egged them on, and indoor politicking spilled into the open.
Each summer, Elizabeth and her court would leave London on a ‘progress’ around the country, lodging with noble families often for weeks at a time.
As queen, [Elizabeth’s] great love for gardens transformed her country, and made gardeners of statesmen, courtiers and soldiers – Trea Martin, author ‘Queen Elizabeth in the Garden’
These visits were highly coveted by her two closest advisors; Dudley, a close confidant harboring romantic intentions, and Cecil her chief political advisor intent on keeping Dudley at bay. To entice Elizabeth to visit, and amuse her once she arrived, they created gardens and landscapes of increasing complexity, each bolder and more elaborate than the next.
Rosemary bushes shimmered with gold leaf. Bridges magically brimmed with wine. Dudley and Cecil, the two most powerful men in England, driven by their rivalry, devised ever more elaborate gardens to impress their queen.
It’s little wonder, then, that as Elizabeth toured the country, each of her hosts felt compelled to construct brand new gardens ahead of her arrival – each one a miniature wonderland, where the queen and her retinue would revel, feast and be entertained.
But these visits served a dual purpose. The “honour” of such a visit could also reduce a lord’s wealth substantially; Elizabeth and her retinue would devour all their stores. By the time they finally left Sudeley Castle in 1592, her host Lord Chandos had nearly bankrupted himself.
The startling thing is that for all their extravagance, barely a single Elizabethan garden survives. If they weren’t destroyed in the Civil War, they crumbled into ruin over the next few decades. And those that made it any further were erased during the popular landscaping movement of the 18th and 19th centuries.
The ghostly outline revealed at Sudeley Castle gives us a unique chance to unearth an original Tudor garden, and recover a moment in time when the humble garden became a beloved part of English life, and took on an even more important role: one of political influence.
This crowdfunding campaign will enable us to run a two-week excavation, with the specific aim of finding out more about the garden, and the party held during Queen Elizabeth’s visit in 1592.
Participation:
Crowdfunders will be able to:
- Join the Dig Team for anywhere between one day and two weeks
- Join the Finds Team
- Watch the dig online
- Visit the dig and be part of a selection of VIP events
Our archaeological goals:
- Reveal the layout of the garden.
- Recover botanical evidence
- Investigate the banqueting platform
- Potentially contribute to the future regeneration of an original Tudor garden
Funding:
We need to raise £20,000 to carry out our excavation, analyse everything we find, and make the results available online. By supporting the dig, you will be helping us to:
- Plan the dig. There are some (fairly complicated) logistics involved!
- Run the excavation. We need enough archaeologists on site to make sure that everyone who comes digging with us has plenty of expert support
- Provide free events alongside the dig. We can’t to share the history you’re helping us uncover with as many people as possible, so alongside the dig we’ll run free events, details of which we’ll publish on our Calendar.
- Pay for all the ‘aftercare’. We’ll need specialists to conserve and take care of all the artefacts we find – especially any burials and human remains
- Analyse all the finds. We’ll also need specialists to analyse and interpret everything we find, including any burials, animal remains, ceramics, metal artefacts and environmental samples
- Share lots of updates before, during and after the dig. It doesn’t start and end with excavation. We’ll be publishing videos, live streams, virtual artefacts and blogs so that you can follow the whole process from start to finish
- Write the official excavation report
- Make sure that all of our data, discoveries and interpretation are freely available online. We think that the results of publicly funded research should be free and easy to access. We’ll be putting all of ours online as soon as they’re made.
Our crowdfunded dig at Sudeley Castle is set to run for two weeks, from Tuesday 21st May – Sunday 2nd June 2019.
You’ll need to pick which date you want to start at checkout (our new intake days are Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, and we don’t dig Mondays!)
Each dig day runs from 9am – 5pm, and you’ll need to arrive in plenty of time. This is especially important on your first day, as you’ll need to complete an archaeological briefing and risk assessment before we can get you into the trenches.
We provide all the tools, training and one-to-one instruction you will need in order to learn and have a great time whilst you are on site with our team. You just need to bring yourself, a packed lunch and a bucketful of curiosity!
We’ll send you the exact details of where to meet within the grounds of Sudeley Castle, and any other final details, two weeks before the dig begins.
Our Finds Room will be running throughout the second week of the excavation, from Tuesday 28th May – Sunday 2nd June 2019.
You’ll need to pick which date you want to start at checkout (our new intake days are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday).
Each Finds Room day runs from 9 am – 5 pm, and you’ll need to arrive in plenty of time. This is especially important on your first day, as you’ll need to complete an archaeological briefing and risk assessment you can start handling any artefacts.
We provide all the tools, training and one-to-one instruction you will need in order to learn and have a great time whilst you are on site with our team.
You just need to bring yourself, a packed lunch and a bucketful of curiosity!
We’ll send you the exact details of where to meet within the grounds of Sudeley Castle, and any other final details, two weeks before the dig begins.
We can’t wait!
Sudeley Castle DigCamp will run from 10 am – 4 pm on Saturday 25th May 2019.
We provide all the tools, training and one-to-one instruction you will need in order to learn and have a great time whilst you are on site with our team.
You just need to bring yourself, a packed lunch, a bucketful of curiosity… and your junior archaeologists!
We’ll send you the exact details of where to meet within the grounds of Sudeley Castle, and any other final details you need to know for your big day, two weeks before the dig begins.
We can’t wait!
Food, transport and accommodation are not included. You’ll need to make your own arrangements.
Food: We recommend bringing a packed lunch suitable for enjoying picnic-style in the gardens. Alternatively, there’s the option to buy lunch in Sudeley Castle’s Terrace Restaurant for anyone who prefers to enjoy eating in style!
Transport: If you want to make shared travel plans with other Venturers, please note we will be emailing all our crowdfunders a link to our Facebook chat group, where you can make shared travel and accommodation plans together if you wish.
Accommodation: There are plenty of places to stay in the area, including Sudeley Castle cottages. If you’re interested in booking one, please contact them directly letting them know you’re part of the DigVentures excavation.
Hooray! So you’ve decided to crowdfund the campaign. We’ll ask you for any relevant details, like t-shirt size, or your preferred dates, and the names of any companions you’ll be bringing, at checkout.
You’ll receive a payment confirmation as soon as you make your payment, and a separate follow-up email asking for a few more details that we need to complete your registration.
We’ll also email you a reminder including how to watch the dig, and any final details you need to know, two weeks before the dig begins.
If you’re keen to start planning your trip, we’ve provided some suggestions about where to stay in the food, transport and accommodation section.
If you’re joining us on site, you’ll receive your t-shirt when you arrive.
If you’re watching from home, we’ll send out any physical goodies, like team t-shirts, at the end of field season in 2019.
You’ll then start getting all your digital goodies (like videos updates and virtual artefacts) when the dig begins.
Once the dig is over, it takes us about 12-18 months to analyse the finds and write up the official report. We’ll keep you updated with any significant developments from the lab during this time. It will be well worth the wait!
And what about DigNation Beta…?
We’ll email you whenever there’s an upcoming talk for you to watch online, and send you more details about the one day conference we’re planning in September closer to the time!
ABSOLUTELY! We invite everyone who crowdfunds the dig to come and visit. Bring friends, bring family, make a day of it! If you give us a heads up, we might even be able to squeeze you onto one of our VIP tours.
You can also check our calendar for details of any free or other public events we’ll be running alongside the dig closer to the time.
We can either transfer your dig days to another excavation, or you can bequeath them to someone else… go on, pass on the archaeology love!
Archaeology isn’t only outdoors! If the weather’s truly terrible, we can head to the archaeology lab to work on the finds… cleaning, examining and identifying the things we’ve found so far.
Crowdfunding isn’t the only way you can help. Even just sharing our campaign on social media could introduce us to someone else who wants to support the dig!
