With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

"Outstanding" smugglers' tunnel unearthed beneath Castle Street (UK)

WORKMEN digging below Bridgwater's Castle Street stumbled across an "outstanding" piece of the town's medieval history last week, unseen for more than 700 years.

Wessex Water officials were renovating sewers underneath the street on Monday when they unearthed a smugglers tunnel and part of old curtain wall from Bridgwater Castle - leading one archaeologist to proclaim it "one of the most important finds of the 21st Century".

Bridgwater Castle dates back to 1200, where William Briwere built a complex of buildings covering eight acres across parts of present day Kings Square and Castle Street.

The giant structure massed next to the river and included a chapel, a kitchen, a cellar, stables and a dungeon.
Read entire article at http://www.bridgwatermercury.co.uk