The site has been cleared, tools stored and the stage is set for our two week summer dig on the site of Elsyng Tudor palace, in the woods of Forty Hall, starting tomorrow.

Having spent the last few years homing in on and eventually locating and studying elements of the inner gatehouse of the palace, our attention has partially turned to a long-outstanding research objective - the re-location of trenches dug by the EAS in the early 1960s.

The first ever archaeological trenches dug in Forty Hall were opened by the EAS, directed by Ivy Drayton, in 1963 and between 1963 and 1965 uncovered a series of substantial palace remains including a staircase turret, various drains and cess pits, fireplaces and some immaculate brickwork foundations extending in some places for a depth of more than two metres.

The main part of the dig took place to the west of the lime tree avenue, although a series of test pits were also excavated within and to the east of the lime tree avenue, which failed to find any significant palace remains.

Unfortunately, most of the written record of those digs has been lost, and although we do have the official photographic record and the site diaries written by Ivy Drayton and her deputy John Adams, neither contains more than a broad indication of precisely where the work was carried out.

Using a handful of blurry slides, the diaries' written descriptions of how the trenches were laid out, and one or two other ephemeral clues, we've narrowed down, give or take a few metres, the most likely position of the trenches to an area just to the west of our newly discovered inner gatehouse.

It is now important to our understanding of the gatehouse, and of the wider palace complex, to pin down precisely where those 60s features are - an important question to answer is whether or not they are part of or separate to the gatehouse.

Thus the first trench of 2026 will be laid out in an area where we suspect the northern end of the 60s trenches lay - this end contained walls that were at the time only a few inches below ground level and so should be quick to identify if they are there. This area also corresponds to some hollows in the ground that could possibly be attributed to settling of backfill over the last several decades.

Depending on the results of the first trench we may lay out one or two further trenches with a similar aim.

Secondary targets will be two trenches enlarging on work we did on the gatehouse last year (lime green in the above diagram). The first will enlarge on a substantial wall we discovered part of in the last couple of days of last year's dig, to determine its full width and to find out if it is a T junction or a corner of a structure. The second will aim to expose more of a feature that we again saw only a glimpse of at the end of last year's dig, which looked as if it might have been the edge of a deliberate surface made of brick fragments.

How far we get with our objectives this year will depend on the whims of this year's hot weather.

Freshly mown grass and the heady scent of lime blossom can only mean one thing: Less than two weeks to go till our summer dig on the site of Elsyng Tudor Palace in the grounds of Forty Hall!

We're also pleased to announce the opening of "Elsyng Palace: Revealing Enfield's Hidden Royal Past" - a free exhibition based at the Museum of Enfield's temporary exhibition space in the Dugdale Arts Centre in Enfield Town and continuing in the house at Forty Hall.

A joint venture between the Museum of Enfield and the EAS, the exhibition chronicles the story of the Palace from early 15th century country house, via Sir Thomas Lovell's courtier's palace of the early 15th century, to the royal palace used by Henry VIII and his children from 1539.

It also tells the story of the rediscovery of the site by the EAS in 1963 until its scheduling 4 years later, and the resumption of fieldwork from 2004.

Information panels are complemented by a selection of finds from the 1960s up until as recently as last year (including some as seen on TV!).

Also be sure to come and visit our open day in the woods at the bottom of the lime avenue on July 18th to see the finds hot out of the trenches, plus hopefully some splendid Tudor masonry.

The second edition of our book Elsyng: Enfield's Lost Palace Revealed will also be available to buy at all three venues.

The exhibition will run until May 8th 2027.

Come and see a Tudor Palace being revealed in the grounds of Forty Hall, Enfield

• View the excavations
• Children's sand pit digs
• Handle Roman and Tudor pottery
• Academic and popular books to buy
• Poster displays
• Museum of Enfield activities

Follow the banners down the Lime tree avenue leading from the lake in front of Forty Hall to find us

Museum of Enfield exhibition on the history of the palace and finds from the excavations at the Dugdale Arts Centre in Enfield Town and Forty Hall from the 27th June 2026 to 8th May 2027

See https://www.fortyhallestate.co.uk/plan-your-visit/getting-here for directions to the Hall

Dates for this year's dig on the site of Elsyng Palace in Forty Hall have been confirmed for July 12th-26th.

Following on from last year's work, this year we will be moving on to a focused effort to relocate the extensive palace structures uncovered by the EAS between 1963 and 1966.

Unfortunately most of the original records from the work in the 1960s have been lost, and we only have a few blurry slides showing the locations of the original trenches.

According to those, last year's dig should have put us in the right area to find at least one of the '60s trenches, and although we were able to uncover more features of the palace's inner gatehouse, there was no sign of previous EAS work.

This has lead us to believe that the sixties work was most likely located further west of the lime avenue and so this year we are planning to lay out a series of exploratory trenches to relocate some of the extensive structures, and to evaluate their state of preservation.

Please note that places on this dig may be limited - if you are not already a member of the Society and want to join us on this dig, the deadline for application is June 28th.

Season's greetings to our members: We are looking forward to another busy year of archaeology in Enfield - please be sure to check your emails for updates on upcoming fieldwork in January/Febuary (double check your spam filters if you've not received anything from us recently).

Amongst other things we will be investigating a recenly fallen veteran oak on the site of Elsyng Palace in Forty Hall, which has thrown up spoil including large fragments of palace rubble.

We are also planning on carrying out some surveying in the same area in March, ahead of the 2026 summer dig.

Please remember that to take part in EAS excavations and to continue recieving details of our activities via email, your subs must be up to date - please also note that rates for 2026 have been increased (see enfarchsoc.org/join).

We look forward to seeing you down a muddy hole soon!