Excavations at Elsyng Palace, Forty Hall, Enfield, July 2025

Excavation of five trenches to 1.00 m depth " Excavation identified a probable cellared (?stair) tower, defied by very substantial walls, at the south end of the inner gatehouse of the palace and further cellared spaces running west from it. They suggest that extension of the original earlier fifteenth century gatehouse by Sir Thomas Lovell at the end of the century involved the addition of large four storey wings to its ends, part of a matching wing also being excavated at the north end of the gatehouse. There was possible evidence of subsequent modifications in the form of an inserted brick floor and all features were covered by often very deep rubble deposits, partly deriving from the cleaning of mortar from salvageable bricks and including large quantities of floor tile, cut brick and some worked stone fragments.