South Garden, Sizergh Castle, Sizergh, Kendal, Cumbria: Archaeological Evaluation

Prior to proposals to improve the access around the gardens at Sizergh Castle, Greenlane Archaeology was commissioned to carry out an archaeological evaluation in the South Garden. This was carried out in March 2025 and was intended to reveal whether there was any evidence for the original surface of a route way shown in the early 19th century as entering this part of the site. While there is evidence for human activity from at least the Neolithic from the wider area around Sizergh, the principal importance of Sizergh lies in the development of its castle in the medieval period. However, the actual place-name 'Sizergh' strongly suggests the presence of a settlement prior to the medieval period. The medieval castle continued to grow and develop during the post-medieval period as it became a more formal home with extensive gardens. The map evidence shows that its South Garden was probably constructed during the early 19th century and that there may have been a track(s) across it leading from the main drive to further gardens in the north-east. One such track was certainly present by 1862. The evaluation comprised two small trenches intended to identify evidence for the surface and structure of the former routeway. In both trenches this was found to be very shallow, laid directly onto the natural clay, although this had perhaps been partly cut back to form a more obvious terrace for the road, and was constructed from limestone gravel, with the remains of some edging stones in Trench 2. Finds recovered from the surface of the road in Trench 2 and subsoil that developed alongside it both confirm the likelihood of a late 18th to 19th century date. In Trench 1 a later ceramic land drain had been cut through the subsoil and probably through the original road surface, which had then been partly replaced, probably in the later 19th century. The evaluation confirmed that elements of the original road surface remained. Furthermore, it identified its fabric and the manner in which it developed and gradually fell out of use thereafter.