Post Description

Tony and the Team don their hunting green, pick up their bows and arrows and head for the fringes of Sherwood Forest, where residents of Clipstone village in Nottinghamshire believe some impressive ruins in a farmer's field may have played a part in the ancient tales of Robin Hood and Bad King John. 

The history books describe these crumbling walls as the remains of a royal hunting lodge. But the locals believe it was actually a palace: a vast complex of chambers, chapels and halls where King John stayed when hunting in Sherwood Forest. 

Royal hunting lodges were very popular with the kings of medieval England, and John was no exception, but was this one so grand as to be more important than all the others? 

The extensive building records and a few tantalising high-quality carvings prove there was certainly a fine building somewhere here, but finding out what it looked like and how large it was frustrates the archaeologists for a good while. 

The trenches reveal a great array of finds, but it's not until the clock is counting down the third day that all becomes clear.