History hunters unearth Oystermouth Castle's past at big dig

A BIG dig to discover the hidden secrets of Oystermouth Castle may have unearthed the foundations of long-lost towers.

Archeologists, students and enthusiastic volunteers started a three-week excavation project on Monday, with the aim of finding the castle's mysterious drum towers.

They wanted to find out when the towers were destroyed — or if they were ever there at all. Project supervisor Andy Sherman, of the Glamorgan and Gwent Archeological Trust, said: "So far, we think we've found part of the foundations of the south west drum tower. It's very exciting.

"Now we are looking to establish when the walls were taken down. They could have been removed by Oliver Cromwell, or they could have been taken down as part of a 19th Century rebuild."

If the foundations are part of the old drum towers — part of the 12th Century castle's defences which would have flanked the gatehouse — there will be a complex analysis process to find out when they were removed.