SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND—Archaeologists recovered four wooden stakes from the moat surrounding Sheffield Castle, according to a statement released by Wessex Archaeology. The timbers were used to protect the fortress from attacks during the English Civil War and are the only surviving examples of seventeenth-century defensive stakes. Experts believe the three-foot-long objects formed part of an abatis, a well-known method of fortification formed from sharpened tree branches. The stakes would have been arranged haphazardly and embedded into the ground to create a barrier in strategic locations to impede and keep attackers at bay. “So often we are told about Civil War defenses like abatises being used at historic properties across the country, but usually there is little to see of these important features,” said Wessex Archaeology’s Ashley Tuck. “To be able to hold the very wood to which the defenders of Sheffield Castle trusted their lives is extraordinary.” Ultimately, the defensive network was unsuccessful as the castle succumbed to Parliamentarian forces after a 10-day siege in 1644. The castle’s defenses were subsequently dismantled after the defeat and the timbers were tossed into the 20-foot-deep moat where they were preserved by the waterlogged conditions. For more on the English Civil War, go to "After the Battle."
