Experts Stumble on Eight 'Perfectly Preserved' Catapult Shots From 13th Century Near the Surface in a Castle

Researchers recently uncovered eight catapult shots in perfect condition on a castle in Warwickshire. The shots were located on the Kenilworth Castle and were likely made during the 1266 siege, BBC reported. The event has been immortalized in English history as one of the longest sieges ever experienced in the country. The shots were of varied features, ranging from 1kg to 105kg in weight. The discovery was made during a project aimed at improving accessibility around Kenilworth Castle.

Experts were very quickly able to identify the origin of the shots due to previous findings in the same place. "We were able to immediately link these findings to the 1266 siege because of similar finds recovered in the 1960s,"  Will Wyeth, properties historian for English Heritage shared. "However, it’s not every day we get lucky enough to stumble across historical remains like this by chance."

The officials spotted eight large stones believed to be projectiles just outside the west castle walls, as per English Heritage. They were close to the surface and experts think that the collection had shots from both sides, the custodian as well as the attacker of the castle during the siege.

Seeing the stones, researchers stated that the attacks from both sides must have been intense, leaving no room for mercy. "These would have caused some serious damage fired from war machines. Records show that one of Henry III's wooden siege towers, containing around 200 crossbowmen, was destroyed by just one well-aimed missile," Wyeth claimed.

Authorities are optimistic that the catapult shots will give them more idea about the things that happened during the siege. "Once the project contractors had found one catapult shot, our archaeologist on site was then able to uncover a further seven as the works around the castle progressed," Dr Coutts, Principal Historic Buildings Officer at Archaeology Warwickshire explained. "As these shots were found pretty much where they would have fallen, we've been able to extrapolate where the siege camps could have been located around the castle, which has been exciting to consider."

The 1266 siege lasted from 25 June to 13 December for a total of 172 days. At this time, England had gone into a civil war because of constant conflict between Henry III and his nobles. The castle was under the custody of the king's biggest opposition, his brother-in-law Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester.

For six months rebels kept the castle in their control while facing constant attacks from the king's forces. Ultimately the custodians gave up the castle to Henry III as people started to fall ill from starvation and disease inside it. The king in turn gave the castle to his son, Edmund, Earl of Lancaster.