Trerice Archaeological Research Group has begun a big dig at a Tudor manor house near Newquay to discover the hidden stories of this National Trust property.

The dig, which is taking place at Trerice Manor until September 19, has a rotation of volunteers who will be digging daily to further investigate a tunnel that was discovered in 2017 and also look in the rear court of the Tudor manor where they hope to find clues of a lost wing.

The TARG group is made up of approximately 20 Trerice volunteers, all of whom have come into archaeology through volunteering. The chance to take part in archaeological work has been met with enthusiasm by many volunteers.

Remembering last year’s dig, Jeremy said: “I didn’t realise I could get so excited over finding two bricks!” TARG leader Gary will be giving site tours of the digging at 1pm Saturday and Sunday (15 and 16 September), discussing their progress, finds and theories.

In 2017 the team discovered a tunnel beneath the stone slabs of a poured concrete building and a video showing the length of this tunnel is now on display in the undercroft at Trerice.

The tunnel is currently being surveyed by an external contractor but the team want to know more about where it goes and why it’s there. They’ll be digging near the entrance site to see if there is any more archaeological evidence to be found.

They’ll also be digging in the rear court of the Tudor mansion looking for a wing of the house now missing. This isn’t the first time they’ve searched for the lost wing.

During test pit digging in July 2017 the team searched in the long walk that runs parallel to the house with no results. The team hope that, by digging lower in the topography of the property, they might find traces of our lost past.