ARCHAEOLOGISTS from the University of York have found remnants of a former stately home, which was demolished more than 200 years ago.

The excavation of Gawthorpe Hall, which was knocked down in 1773, was carried out by a team of undergraduate students near Harewood House, and led by Dr Jonathan Finch, from the university's department of archaeology.

The dig has also unearthed coins, bottles, decorative pins and ceramics dating as far back as the medieval period, and could help explore the business interests of the Lascelles family, who worked as traders to the West Indies.

Dr Finch said: “As well as providing a much longer history of Harewood that stretches thousands of years back into prehistory, the archaeology will give us a unique insight into the impact the Caribbean sugar industry and slavery had, not just on the fortunes of the Lascelles family, but on English landscape and society as a whole over two hundred years ago.”

The dig has taken place over the last two years, and school groups will soon be able to explore the excavation and talk to the archaeologists about the site this summer.

For more information about this, and the upcoming Harewood Medieval Festival, go to harewood.org/medievalfestival