‘Historical mysteries’ lie beneath school field — and experts need help finding them

Middle school-aged children trample across a grassy field outside their school in the United Kingdom. Maybe they’re chasing a ball or participating in gym class or even just walking into school.

Beneath their feet and hundreds of years of dirt lies a trove of unsolved “historical mysteries:” A 16th century Elizabethan manor once stood where the field is, and its ruins are buried there.

Now, archaeologists are working to unearth the ruins and find any artifacts from the ancient home, and they’re asking for help from the public, according to a March 12 news release from the Royal Agricultural University.

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Known as Whitecross Manor, the home was built in the 1570s for a mariner and landowner Admiral Sir William Wyntour in Lydney — which is a town in eastern England, about a 134-mile drive from London. It was “burned and demolished” in 1645 during the Civil War, experts said.

The manor’s land is now the Dean Academy, a secondary school formerly known as Whitecross School.

Archaeologists have been using non-invasive geophysical technology to survey the land in search of the manor’s remains.

“This site was originally investigated in the 1970s and mid-1980s, as well as briefly in 2003, but many of the early finds were sold or dispersed,” Mark Horton, who is leading the investigation of the site, said in the release. “There are few records of the previous archaeological investigations.”

The team is asking for help from the public to better understand the manor and to track down missing artifacts from past excavations and investigations.

“We know that many Whitecross School students took part in previous site digs and they may have information and (artifacts),” Horton said. “To help us reconstruct what was there as best we can, we are very keen to track down any objects that may have been found all those years ago.”

So far, the new research has allowed experts to map buried walls in three dimensions and locate some of the home’s outbuildings and wells, the university said. The team wants to have “a detailed plan of the house and grounds before the dig starts later in the year.”

Some of the missing artifacts include “a near complete Elizabethan rapier” — a type of sword — and various pieces of ceramics and pipes, according to archaeologists.

They’re also working to “understand the gardens and how the walls were prepared to defend the mansion in the Civil War.”

The English Civil Wars took place in the British Isles between 1642 and 1651, according to Britannica.

Whitecross Manor

The manor could hold unique insight into life in England during the Tudor time, which lasted from 1485 until 1603.

“Whitecross is a fascinating place,” Horton said. “Because this house was lived in for such a short time, it’s an amazing Tudor time capsule telling the story of an Admiral, courtier and his entourage.”

The home was built during the Elizabethan Era, which was the peak of the Tudor era during Queen Elizabeth I’s reign from 1558 until 1603.

Experts believe the home could also be “the location of some of the earliest evidence of a Black servant in a domestic household,” according to Horton.

The home could also hold souvenirs from Sir Francis Drake, a British explorer famous for circumnavigating the world in a single trip between 1577 and 1580. The home’s owner, Wyntour, was “a major sponsor of Drake’s voyages, including the famous circumnavigation,” Horton said.

Archaeologists hope their investigation will combine new findings with the old evidence to learn more about the home.

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