Following on from preliminary survey and investigations during 2020, continuing archaeological investigations were undertaken in 2021 in connection with the creation of a new playground within Bailey Hill park, Mold.
Results
Five trenches were excavated and a complete lack of medieval evidence suggests that the Outer Bailey was extensively quarried for sand and the hillside reduced in height during the 19th century, before it was levelled for a small formal garden prior to a change of use to a croquet lawn and later (1880) a lawn tennis court. A trench excavated west of the Bowling Green however, showed a medieval demolition layer below the present ground surface, consisting of cobbles and fire-cracked stone up to 0.3m thick. This sealed a significant undisturbed archaeological horizon consisting of trampled floor surfaces.
Within a pit medieval pottery of 12th/13th century origin, iron objects, arrowheads and a fragment of a knife blade and butchered animal bone were found. Another trench uncovered the potential remains of a wing wall linking the motte with the inner bailey. The denuded remains of a substantial wall 3.1m wide and constructed from angular and cobble stone bonded with lime mortar, were recorded running north to south and between 0.4m – 0.7m below the present ground surface, sealed by a firm 0.3m thick ‘post-demolition’ deposit of silty sand.
Owing to the significant archaeological deposits recorded in the Inner Bailey, plans for the siting of the new playground were reassessed. Subsequently, three trenches were excavated on the Outer Bailey (June 2021) and a complete lack of medieval evidence suggests that the Outer Bailey was extensively quarried for sand and the hillside reduced in height during the 19th century, before it was levelled for a small formal garden prior to a change of use to a croquet lawn and later (1880) a lawn tennis court.
