Archaeologist excited by 'mystery site'

An archaeological dig has uncovered the remains of "unexpected" buildings in the grounds of a country estate.

Viviana Caroli, an archaeologist from the National Trust who is leading the work, said the excavations at Attingham Park in Shropshire were "very, very exciting".

She described it as a "mystery site" and showed the "the richness of our historic landscape".

The dig, which started in 2018, is drawing to a close for this year, but is expected to resume in 2023.

Ms Caroli said the latest find was "quite a substantial building" and was built about the same time as a summer house and plunge pool that were discovered in 2021.

She said it appeared the team had found a "little private pleasure ground within another bigger pleasure ground" and believed it was built at some point between 1807 and the 1840s.

The discoveries took her by surprise, she said, because most historic maps did not record the location of the buildings.

Ms Caroli explained: "We've been very lucky that during Covid we actually found the only map showing the location of the building."

At first the new building was thought to be some form of enclosure, but she now believes it was a substantial service building, associated with the summer house.

Ms Caroli said the site would be covered over for the winter, when the excavation ends for the year on Friday, but she hoped to find evidence of more buildings, including a well, in 2023.

She also hopes to learn more about the relationships between the buildings.