Spalding Castle mystery could be solved with £20million sports centre redevelopment
A major redevelopment of the Castle Sports Centre site could provide chance to end the mystery of the structure that gave the site its name.
The £20 million Levelling Up bid aims to knock down the existing pool and build onto the dry side - with extra care housing to take its place.
During that work, it would provide archaeologists the chance to look at the site to find evidence that could clear up precisely what the ‘Spalding Castle’ was.
Richard Buck, curator of archaeology at Spalding Gentlemen’s Society, said: “For too many years Spalding Castle has remained something of an enigma. It has been pondered on and talked about for so long that many Spaldonians only have a very small knowledge of an integral part of Spalding’s past, the fortress of the feared Ivo Tailbois, henchman to William the Conqueror and scourge of the Saxons.
“What was the castle like? Where was its exact location? What size was it? What was it made of? Questions that have been asked time and time again, but with so little evidence to mark its existence a new opportunity has arisen for archaeologists to answer this question.”
He’s urging the authorities to do a full ‘archaeological reconnaissance’.
He added: “It is a priceless opportunity to answer many of those proposed questions and give Spalding an interesting and important part of its history back. A situation like this doesn’t come often, so let’s use this to focus on the town and let people be proud of their Fenland heritage.
“And if we end up asking more questions than answering those we already have, then so be it, something for the next generation to muse over.”
John Cleary, who lives next to the site and has been trying to solve the mystery of the Castle, said this was a ‘real chance’ to ‘clear-up the speculation’.
He added: “Since Holbeach antiquarian William Stukeley reported an earthwork on the Boston Road outside Spalding to the Spalding Gentlemens Society’s Maurice Johnson in 1724 It has been a source of controversy. Is it a Roman Fort? Is it a Saxon Hall? Is it a Norman motte and Bailey castle? Precisely where is it? And whose was it? And all without any clear archeological evidence.
“Now with the success of the Levelling up Bid for the Sports Complex we have the opportunity to study the whole Castlefields site with modern technologies.
“First a whole site ground-penetrating-radar scan to locate the underground remains followed up by targeted trenches. Not an opportunity to be missed even in these times of hardship for SHDC.”
