Castle Garth, Civil War Bastion

During the Civil War the dunghill in the Castle Garth was cleared by John Marley to make way for new defences. In 1643 Marley heightened the castle with planking for artillery and a V-shaped stone wall with ashlar face and rubble core and a ditch were hastily added to the castle defences. Archaeological excavation in 1977 found that the wall survived to a height of 2m and had timber lacing through it - perhaps to act as a shock absorber? The rubbish fill of the bastion ditch contained a 9lb cannon ball, C17 domestic (pottery, glass and animal bones) and industrial waste (broken glass vessels from an apothecary and offcuts and scrap from cobblers' and tailors' workshops - wood used for heels and pegs in shoes). 'Pock marks' on the west face of the Keep are thought to be the result of C17 pot shots. The damaged outer face of the Keep has been pieced in with mortar near to the bastion. The temporary seige works were infilled in 1650.