King Arthur link unearthed at castle

From: http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/king-arthur-link-unearthed-at-castle/2006/08/28/1156617275379.html
Chris Greenwood in London August 29, 2006

A BRITISH television program claims to have found evidence of a building at Windsor Castle that is linked to the myth of King Arthur and the knights of the round table.

The circular structure was built by Edward III in the 14th century to house the round table intended to seat the original 300 Knights of the Garter.

Archaeological proof of the 61-metre-diameter building was uncovered by members of the Channel 4 program Time Team, which is screened in Australia on the ABC on Tuesdays.

Although the stones have been removed, ghost walls, consisting of rubble in-fill where they were originally located, remained in place.

The program's presenter, Tony Robinson, said the discovery could help settle years of debate among historians over the existence of the building.

"The round table … is something that helped to establish Arthurian legends of the knights of the round table," he said. "Experts have speculated about the structure for centuries, but they have never been able to find the actual building."

It was one of several finds made by archaeologists given unprecedented access to three royal residences. They moved into Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh for a mammoth three-day dig.

Presenter Neil Oliver said experts had also unearthed some of the foundations of an ancient 12th century monastery. "The monastery was progressively destroyed and now all that remains of it lies under the neatly manicured Holyrood lawns," he said.

"But when we went a few feet below that we were able to see the foundations."

They have also been trying to find Mary Queen of Scots' tennis court . The digs were allowed to go ahead after months of negotiations with the royal family. A Palace spokesman said the findings would be catalogued and the survey results would be added to the royal archive at Windsor.

David Wilkinson, of Oxford Archaeology, said work would continue long after the trenches had been refilled as experts examined the finds. Dr Wilkinson, who works as a consultant to the royal household, said he hoped to find remains of defences from the English Civil War of the 1640s.

Tim Taylor, the producer of the Time Team series, said: "As a program, we began doing back gardens and we have ended up in the largest back garden in London and that of the royal family."