EDO6370 - Wareham Castle; geophysical survey 2009

Ground Penetrating Radar (GRP) and magnetometer surveys to locate ditches of the motte and bailey castle. A base line was set up to avoid underground pipe work at a distance from the current house and beyond the known limits of the castle foundations. The survey consisted of eleven lines in the north south direction from the baseline. A second survey was carried out to the south of the castle site in an area between the presumed motte and the current garden fence, in order to establish the existence and wherabouts of the curtain wall and any distches that may have formed part of the Norman defences. The results suggest that a ditch appears not to have been excavated when the motte was constructed possibly due to the natural contours of the site and the proximity of the river Frome. All 17 lines indicate that a feature, possibly the base of the curtain wall, lie beneath the ground ata a distance of between 24 and 28 metresnorthwards from the east west baseline.