Forbidden History - The Lost Swords of Castillon: The Medieval Treasure No One Can Explain

Episode Date: April 14, 2026

In this episode of Forbidden History, a mysterious hoard of medieval swords emerges from the past. Tied to the Battle of Castillon, their discovery challenges everything we think we know about the final moments of the Hundred Years War. Cast List: Eric Meyers: Narrator Tim Sutherland: Archaeologist David Nicolle: Military Historian David Oliver: Arms and Armour Expert Clive Thomas: Arms and Armour Researcher Bob Savage: Royal Armouries Expert Henry Hallop: Arms Specialist David Williams: Auctioneer, Bonhams Antoine: Musée de l’Armée Curator Dr Guilheim Perin: Historian Ewart Oakeshott: Historical Arms and Armour Scholar (Archive) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the Forbidden History Podcast. We're an independent podcast and advertisements help keep us going. Thanks for supporting the show. A secret horde lost for centuries. Not gold, not silver, but steel. The mystery of the Cassillon Sword Group is ongoing. The end of a war, the last battle to be fought, the final stand to be made.

The Battle of Castile was absolutely catastrophic for the English. The collapse of an army. Armor, weapons, swords. The investigation of an enduring mystery. A forgotten treasure, undisturbed, undiscovered, until now. The Swords of Castillon. The medieval world, the 5th to the 15th century. Tim Sutherland is one of Britain's most experienced archaeologists.

He and a team of specialists tried to understand medieval life by exploring the realm of the medieval dead. We have a classic view of the storybook medieval life. We don't hear the stories about the common man trying to keep his family alive. Archaeologically speaking, we can now focus in on the medieval dead people. You couldn't help almost look through their eyes. What did they see? How did they die? This story is one of the most remarkable in the world of arms and armor.

It's truly epic in scope. From a medieval battlefield to the prestige sail rooms of the 21st century, and in between, all the plot twists a thriller writer could imagine, except it all really happened. For more than four decades, it's created a trail of rumor and guesswork. and guesswork, hearsay and intrigue. And now, in this episode of Forbidden History, we'll examine the clues, the stories, the facts,

and the extraordinary sequence of events behind the mystery of the swords of Castillon. Around 60 miles north of Bordeaux, an exhibition was held in the Chateau-de-Pont, called La Guerre-O-Moyon-Age, the Hundred Years' War, the catalog showed a photograph of a medieval sword. Of the sword's origin, almost nothing was said other than it was from somewhere in France. To people outside the international world of arms and armor, it was just another old sword,

another piece destined for sale to a museum or collector. To those in the know, it was a big deal. But if it wasn't really much known up to that point, it was the following year. At the world-famous Christie's Sail Rooms in Geneva, prestige auction on the 26th of April 1977 featured a selection of highly collectible antique arms and armor, but there was no doubt what the star items were, not one, but seven medieval swords. I first became aware of them when the Pioter's sale in Christi's in Geneva, and obviously some of them were fairly tattie and corroded somewhere in pretty good condition.

I think we cataloged as a group of medieval swords from the same site. The same site, in fact, as the one at Chateau-Dupon, but where no one would say. A few years later, an arms and armor expert wrote about the find, and he hinted that he knew something. The general area of the fine place is known, though for reasons of security, its location may not be disclosed. Over the following years, yet more swords were sold by auctioneers across Europe. Switzerland, Germany, London, all were said to be from the same place, still unknown.

Many years later, the insider expert explained the secrecy over the Find site. In the first years of the Find's existence, no mention of the actual Find place was allowed. It was merely stated that it was somewhere in France. However, by the end of the 70s, this rigid secrecy had been relaxed a little. For some of us knew where the place was. We kept silence, though, but obviously someone or some authority was anxious, less treasure-seekers should come looking for more. Only a few people were truly in the know.

But Antique's arms and armor expert David Oliver, had contacts in the trade. He was able to work out approximately where the swords had come from. Just through the Grabevine, one became aware that there were, I think was first suggested to me that came from the last major battle of the Hundred Years' War, and that didn't twig Castion. I thought there was a big battle at Orion, I think, prior to Castion, so that it was possibly from Orlyon,

and then just by a process of elimination, we eventually discovered that they were actually from Castion. Castillon is not far from Bordeaux in southwest France on the Dodon River. The swords were from Castillon. Over the years, many more have come up for auction. There was a time that a number of them were appearing regularly in Christie's sales. One every few months, as it were. It's now thought as many as 80 swords were recovered.

There's no other medieval battlefield with so many swords, so many swords supposedly associated with it than Castillon. The swords of Castion, such a large number of them, of course, they become part of this legend. They add considerably to something which is already dramatic just because of the people involved, the event, and its historical importance. They are almost like sort of icing on the cake. They just make it even more remarkable. The story has captivated collectors, historians and archaeologists ever since.

It is one of the amazing stories about the medieval period. The sores of Cassillon. Where did they come from? They're classic medieval fighting weapons. It's a fantastic story. It's a wonderful yarn about how these swords were discovered. Tim sets out to find out what he can about the swords, and hopefully the circumstances the circumstances of their discovery. The swords are now scattered, mostly in ones and twos,

in private collections and museums across the world. But there's a rare chance to see a group of them displayed together for perhaps the first time in decades since their finding. They're in several museums, and of course when you see them, you automatically try to imagine what it was like, one finding them, but two, using them, which battle are from. And so the whole of your mind starts to race. While Tim's in Paris, back in England, another of the mysterious blades has suddenly resurfaced.

In the heart of Knightsbridge in the west end of London, bottom's sailrooms, another prestige auction of antiques, arms and armor, with many alluring items, medieval and otherwise, for collectors to feast their eyes on. But even though it's almost 40 years since the first. auction in Geneva, the star attraction is once again a Castillon sword. It's expected to fetch a high price. I can't remember exactly when I first heard about these swords. It was probably very early 70s, something like that. David Nicole, like many other medieval historians, became intrigued by the story of the swords.

Whenever these swords come up in an order, In an auction, they're always the star exhibit because of the mystery of their find, and of course, their association with the Great Battle of Castillon. David has worked in the arms and armor trade, researching and sourcing items for potential sellers. But he's never, till now, come across one of the Castillon swords. I never thought I'd see them. I never thought I'd handle them.

I never thought I'd have anything to do with them. The day before the sale, we were allowed special access behind the scenes. It was a chance to see the preparation that goes into such an auction. Well, you're in the auction house Bonhams, which was established in 7093, and you're in the sail room which we have based in Montpelier Street, in Knightsbridge right in the heart of London. And we, for some years now, we've been having sales dedicated to antique arms and armour,

and we tend to hold between two and three sales a year. As is often the case, the sale has come about following the day, death of a collector. Many of the items that will be sold are from the estate of just one man. The late owner, he was an American, he had a collection. It included two or three medieval swords, including the Castian sword. Beautifully made, and very rigid. I mean, that's going to give you a very substantial cutting edge, but I would have thought primarily a thrusting weapon. I mean, this is, well, to say lethal is a little bit obvious since that's what it's for.

The is a fleur-de-lie. That is fascinating. Somehow appropriate that it should be a fleur-de-lie, although the assumption is that these were Anglo-Gascot from the losing side in the battle. Not necessarily the case, but most probably. But nonetheless, a little French fleur-de-li. Lovely. Tim is on his way to see a whole group of the swords. Britain's royal armories owns several Castillon blades. and they've loaned them out specially for this prestige exhibition. It has pride of place in France's premier arms and armor museum, in the heart of Les Invalides in Paris, the Muse des L'Armé. And there are one or two old friends here, too. It's the first time these royal armory swords have been back in France since their discovery.

The Musei del Armée's own Castellon sword is the one that was exhibited at the Chateau-de-Pont. The first one the wider world came to know about. The Castillon swords are in most European arms collection. We have two here at the Muse de l'Army. So, along with a colleague from the Royal Armouries, who possessed four, we put together an exhibition of six swords in Castillon. I think it's the first time there's been this many together in an exhibition.

But what about the circumstances of the sword's discovery? Is there anything known here in Paris about what happened back then in the Doordogne? It's difficult to know more as they were not found on a regular archaeological dig. The person who found them is unknown, so that has always been secretive. We have very little information, so that's why they're a bit legendary. The legend of the Castillon swords. These objects have a bit of an aura amongst collectors. Everyone wants to possess a Castillon sword.

That's why there's one in all the collections. This is the foremost military museum in France, and yet there's no record here of the recovery of some 80 swords. Archaeological relics from a medieval battle. During the past five years, a number of fine 15th century swords have been appearing in the sail rooms and changing hands among collectors. They're from a find of swords dredged from the River Dordaigne, near to the site of the last Battle of the Hundred Years' War, fought near Castillon in Gascany in July 1453.

If the battle and the swords could be linked beyond doubt, it would be completely unique. You know where they've come from, you know roughly the date they come from, and you know which country they come from and why they're important. And if these swords are connected to the Battle of Castile, in 1453, we've nailed it. Maybe it's time to look instead at the story of that battle itself. And it was a battle that didn't end well for the English. The Battle of Castile was absolutely catastrophic for the English. of the most catastrophic? I would say actually the most catastrophic.

Since the 1330s, the rulers of England and France had fought what's known to us now as the 100 years' war. By the early 1450s, the English had lost virtually all their possessions in France. An army was dispatched to recapture the great city of Bordeaux and its surroundings in the Dordaigne, including the fortified town of Castellon. He was the English coming back again, seeking to defeat the French army in battle, and then hopefully re-establishing their position in southwestern France. The English commander was highly respected by both sides. Sir John Talbot was a veteran soldier. He was feared by his enemies because he was successful.

He was a good leader, and he was also pretty good at getting on with the locals. And this is important because the army at Castillon was not just English. It was from Bordeaux. A large part of it was French, French loyal to the English crown, as they had been for a very long time in that region. The alliance between England and Gascone had existed for many years before the time of Agincourt. A representative of, I think, Henry V, was very proud to say that the English nation was composed of five tongues and he mentioned English, Gaelic, Welsh, Cornish and Gascone.

The French launched a preemptive strike and besieged the Gascone town of Castellon. Talbot moved fast to try and raise the French siege before Castellon fell. After marching his army through the night, he launched a headlong assault on the French position. French had decided they were going to stand and fight, and that's precisely what they did. The English, like the French Adagincourt, and certainly like the French at Poitiers and Cressee, were full of confidence. They were incredibly confident in their ability, so they charge in there thinking, eh, but only French, this is going to be a piece of cake.

It was anything but. The French might not have had the English warboat, but they had overwhelming firepower of their own. The English were shot to pieces, cut down in droves by cannonballs. The survivors were charged by the French, and the English were completely routed. Some tried to make it to the Dordaigne, and this was where the last stand took place. Talbot was killed, and his son, who led the rearguard. There cannot be many English commanders of the Hundred Years' War, who were defeated

and yet are still commemorated on French soil. Talbot's monument looks out over the river. There was a ford there, and nearby is where 500 years later the swords are assumed to have been discovered. Were they dropped in the ford during the route? How did they get into the river? In the early 1980s, an article appeared in print

in which the author, our insider, pondered this very same kind of the article. very same question. The article appeared in 1982. In it, I had repeated the assumption that the swords were lost in the river by English and Gascon men-at-arms trying to get away from the battlefield, having been soundly beaten by the French. The author was an English academic who was passionately interested in swords.

He's one of the great figures in historical arms and armor research during the 20th century. He wrote many books and had a wide-ranging influence on a generation of future researchers. His name was Ewert Oakeshot. The first book that I ever came across on Arms and Armour was a book by Ewert Oakeshott, at one of his Knight and series. Oh gosh, I must have been nine then, and it wouldn't be until about 30 odd years later than I actually ended up meeting them at. Used to lecture at schools and this sort of thing, used to dress himself up in armour,

It was only about five foot high. Something I've never forgotten because I've never been served a cheesecake with a bronze age dagger before. Oh, he was great. He was, he was a real character and a lovely man. It was Oakshot, who'd been the man in the know on the Castillon swords right from their discovery. He was the insider who wrote a series of articles about them. In each of his articles, the story is either found out something more, so it gets something else that's added to it, there are more numbers,

there are all those. We now know it was found there. As new anecdotal evidence emerged, Oak Schott's interpretation also steadily evolved. I was told that the 80 swords had been all together in a box or crate. The crate might have been in a wagon. This was a little more reasonable. Though how beaten troops getting the hell out of it

could have stopped to pack 80 swords into, a box and put it on a wagon, I don't know. Later, the crate was confirmed as being, in fact, two large wooden barrels, the remains of which had been found with the swords. As Oakeshott said, this didn't sound like fleeing troops throwing away their weapons in the river. Are there clues in what we know about the aftermath of the medieval battle? Back at the battlefield, of course, you've got a load of...

mixed and in some cases extremely valuable military equipment lying around. Now Booty is absolutely central to motivation of medieval armies because they're not paid very well if paid at all. So if you win, survive unhurt, you can make a lot of money by collecting the stuff that's lying around. And there's going to be merchants, arms merchants, those people we all love, hovering around in the background, ready to come in and buy up this stuff. It's an odd parallel that half a millennia later, the Castagnon swords are still highly sought after by dealers and arms.

Today, it's not just private buyers who buy antique arms and armor. Like any other consumer, if there's an item the Royal Armouries want for their collection, they have to buy it from a dealer. In their storerooms in Leeds, Tim gets a rare chance to handle the armory's six castigestion. on blades. When did the swords first come into the Royal Armaments

are collishing them? The swords have come into the armories over a period of time, starting from about 1977 through the 80s. And they have been acquired through either auction or from dealers. And what's interesting as a group is there's similarities and their differences. So they're none that are identical. None of them are going to be identical because they're all, of course, hand-ford.

Different person might make. Pommel and the cross as opposed to the blade, even if they were for, you know, a contract. Like we know about places like the tower, issuing arms, don't we, for campaign. Even if they were to fulfill that function, there's still going to be differences. We don't even know, to be honest, whether these are French or English. Oh, right. So there's nothing here stylistically. They could have been used basically all over the continent.

Ewert Oakeshott recognised the variations in the swords from his wide-ranging surveys of surviving medieval weapons. These blades conformed to his initial grouping by three broad types. Of the 80s, supposedly out there, they fall into, most fall into three categories. The powerful-looking type A swords are the most numerous in the group. The largest category is referred to as type A, and it has this, tapering, cut and thrust, diamond section, sometimes with the hollowed outsides, the blade as well, and heavy wheel pommel. Fewer in number than the type A's, the type Bs differ very slightly in design, but they still

have the same recognizable characteristics. Be your class of type B with the fish tail pommel, the straight cross with the bulbous ends, and the gradually tapering diamond section blade, so more of a more of a thrusting specific weapon. And then the smallest group of which I think is a group of tune is the type C ones. And that's with this pear-shaped or, you know, sent stop-a-pommel, similar cross to type B's, and then triple-fullet into Dipland-section Blaze. Another of the Armouries collection can be included in a third group, Group C. What I found very interesting is this falchion type.

It's not a typical fowling sort. It's not a clubbing sort, it's not a clubbing. It's a darn one, is it? It's definitely a fine sort. but it's definitely a falchion as well. You think of perhaps can think of some certainly earlier falchens that are always being like a machete.

The falchon was a medieval slashing weapon. This single sword is perhaps the rarest of the whole Castillon group. It could actually be a custom made worn off and there is none other like it. Well apparently out of the parent 80 that were known this is the only falchion type. So medieval falchings overall are

incredibly rare survivor, despite being quite often shown in art and things like that, actual physical surviving specimen. But is there any archaeological evidence on the blades that might tell us more about their use, maybe in a battle, even Castellon? Some of them on the edges of the blades appear to give evidence of having been used, shall we say. But one might see those actually as just corrosion products. Whether a nick started it or whether it is just a corrosion product is hard to say. Several of the 80 swords show evidence that they were sheathed when they went into the water.

Does this help with trying to work out how they came to be there? One of the main questions is what this collection is all about. Is it a collection swords that was going to a battle? Is this collection swords that had been looted off the battlefield afterwards, collected up and they're taken away from the battlefield? field. And so is there any evidence that the style and the type and anything else could answer that question? The only thing has always struck me is I find if hopefully it goes to a battle, they would be treated well. So you have silver decorated pommels, you have gold on the blade,

bustling and jostling, if you like, alongside common soldiers sword maybe. And I find that a bit odd, but I can imagine if it's being after the battle scenario, everything is being bundled and jumbled together. Because they don't belong to anybody anymore. That's right. They've just been taken away and pillaged, basically.

Six swords are like the whole of the Castillon group. Some expensive blades, some less so. Some may be used in battle. Some probably not. And some in scabbards. Does it sound like they were looted? or something else.

We know they were in a river or we're presumed they're in a river, but we don't know and that's the thing, if we knew how they were actually found, the grouping is even maybe able to, but it could be that the swords that have similar pommels were all grouped together, we don't know. Were they in fact

battle related, or is it possible these are similar because this was a dealer in sort and this was his collection, and for some reason he got swamped in a river and lost a lot. David Oliver has also come to favor this possible explanation. One of the reasons why I think they're not battlefield fines

is that because so many are virtually, they're not identical, but of the same type. So to my mind, there have been supplies from a maker or a supplier of munitions, which have been going to, either Castion, Bergerac or wherever, and just happen to be lost, coincidentally, in the Castion region. Can we even say the Battle of Castellon had any connection at all to the swords, given what the physical evidence tells us? You as an archaeologist, are more aware of this and perhaps others.

There was a battle. First up the road from the alleged fine site, so therefore these swords must be associated from the battle. Actually, there is no evidence for that. But given the traffic, it's a very busy river. It could just be total coincidence. Back in London, another of the Castionsores prepares to meet a new owner. It's nearly time for the sale. Bonhams have never before sold a Castion sword.

With less than 24 hours to go, anticipation is building. The starting price of the Castillon piece is £8,000. Arms and armour collecting is a popular market. You're selling into an educated audience, if you like, and yes, they appreciate the work, you know, the quality of work, and they appreciate the rarity, and they appreciate the fact that they have a historical connection very often. So lots of anticipation about tomorrow? Let's hope so, we're going to see.

Auctions like these are vital for museums to acquire their exhibits. But the arms and armour trade sometimes gets a bad press. Sometimes I tell my friends I'm off to an arms fair tomorrow or something and they seem to think I'm going to go off and buy a jet fighter. Of course it's actually an antiques or antique arms fair. The academic world can get a little bit sniffy about the whole commercial sales, buying and selling of these beautiful and interesting objects. Personally, I feel that's most unfair.

By encouraging and spreading this interest, They bring in artifacts which we might otherwise not see, which the academics might not see, like the Castillon swords. Swords themselves have a mystique, I think. There's something about them that elevates them above all of the weapons, I think. Like David Nicole, Clive Thomas researches and writes about historical items in the arms and armor trade. And he, too, is fascinated by the Castion swords. Yeah, the first time I actually got to grips with a medieval sword was actually one of the Castion pieces.

It was just superb. I felt very privileged to be holding it. I think at that point, that was when my interest in the Castion group was really sparked, I suppose. Clive was well versed in the work of Ewert Oakeshott. I was first aware of you at Oakshot when I read his book, The Archaeology of Weapons, I still dip into it occasionally just for the sheer pleasure of reading it. Much later, I actually met the man, and I met him probably four or five times before he died, which was I think in 2002.

What was he like? He was very enthusiastic about the subject, basically, very friendly. very, very approachable. I remember when the very first time I actually met him, I was introduced to him by a chap from the Arms and Armour Society. And this guy took me over to Ewert, at the Part Lane Arms Fair, this was. And said, this guy's just written an article which you've got to see. And Ewert opened the article up.

I said, oh, I say, you know. And there we were chatting away like we'd been old friends for decades, you know. Eweard Oakeshott passed away in 2002. Over almost three decades, he'd written numerous articles and books about the Castillon Blades. Yet the story wasn't complete, and still the swords kept appearing for auction. There were still blanks to be filled in. After Ewert died, I was looking through these articles, and I thought, well, I think somebody really needs to pull it all together. And, you know, there was definitely a sense of a bat on being passed, I think.

Clive continued the work of Ewert Okshot by starting out with his own research. His aim was to try to establish the true chain of events. It still wasn't known for sure when or even how the find occurred. But he was able to establish some of this. As far as I know, we pinned the year down to 1974 when they were discovered. They were discovered by, I think, a dredging company, as far as we can tell anyway. But where the dredging happened was another matter. Nobody seemed to know or want to tell.

Even Oakeshott himself was coy on the subject in his articles. The general area of the fine place is known, though for reasons of secure location, may not be disclosed. It was as if he couldn't really tell you everything, but he... He sort of cheated, he put just enough information in there, just so anybody in the know could actually termin roughly where these things were found. There was a clue that the swords were found near a ford, and this, along with the apparent date and type of the swords, is how they came to be associated with the battle.

It's often thought that the fine point was actually near the site of the battle, the 1453 battle. In actual fact, it was the other side of the town. further downstream. This changed everything. Not the Ford of Rosanne, which was close to the battlefield, but the Ford of Jean-Barre,

just under a kilometer to the southwest. If true, this put paid once and for all to the idea of defeated English soldiers losing their swords in the Ford as they fled. Clive found that Oakshot seems to have been fed snippets of detail about the find. He let slip clues in his articles. It's interesting from the first articles where it was said that the swords were found in a wagon or something like that.

And then he revised that in the following article to say that they were found in some casks and later said that they were found in a barge. It's amazing seeing how the story develops. A plausible picture began to emerge. Perhaps the swords have been collected after the battle. But it could have been before or even years later. The swords were types in use for much of the 15th century. They'd been loaded on board the river barge for transportation.

By English or Gascon or by French troops, we don't know. Were they heading up or downriver? Were they loaded around there? Perhaps spoils from the battle? We don't know. We do know that valuable swords packed together in a shipment, perhaps in great barrels below decks, would have been a serious commodity, goods for sale in the medieval arms trade of the

Hundred Years' War. But just how did they come to be in the river? Right up to his very last words in print on the subject, Oakeshott himself wondered this. For all any of us know, other things from that boat may lurk beneath the water. But why did the barge sink? Clive came up with something no one else had. The Dordaigne is one of France's largest rivers, and it bears witness to an incredible and potentially destructive natural force. A tidal bore, a surge of water driven by the sea. I was quite surprised, actually, when I learned of this particular natural phenomenon

that nobody had actually mentioned it in any of the literature on on Castion beforehand, so I did a bit of research on it. And the way that tidal bore's work, the one at Castion is actually known as the masqueray, and it goes all the way up the door doing it, to a point about, well, several kilometers further than Castion itself. There would have been little warning. The tidal bore makes hardly any sound until it hits. If they weren't prepared, or if it was unusually strong, the masqueray might easily have swamped or sunk a small craft.

The barge and its cargo might have also drifted some distance before they sank into the mud of the Doordogne. I find it very interesting that none of that information was ever mentioned by anyone beforehand, really. In fact, why was so little known about the whole find? Even Ewe-Oakshot stated that he had to keep quiet on the matter. Some of us knew where the fine place was. We kept silence, though. Or some authority was anxious, less treasure-sie. speakers should come looking for more.

Again, Clive came up with an explanation. I suspect the authority that the Uyut mentioned was probably the French Navy. At that point there was a law in France which said that anything discovered in the river had to be investigated by them. Castellon isn't too far from France's Atlantic coast and a major naval base at Bordeaux. In the early 70s, this was the height of the Cold War. So the French Navy had to be thorough. I have it from various sources that they didn't just do a watching brief as such.

They actually took pictures in the water, cordoned off an area, did a proper search, but quite what they learned is open to question because none of that information is currently available. Until it becomes available, we may never know if the 80 recovered swords were the only nor whether anything else of the barge and its cargo remains undiscovered. At bottoms of Knightsbridge, the auction reaches its climax with lot number 173, the Castillon sword. The starting price of 8,000 pounds is quickly left behind. In the end, it takes just 35 seconds.

$12,000 pounds, and another of the extraordinary Castillon swords has a new owner. What would Ewerd Oakeshott have made of all of this? I think Ewerd Oakeshott would be delighted with the interest that is being given to these swords. And he'd be fascinated by the fact that more keep popping up because he realized that this was not a straightforward case. It was an ongoing story. And maybe he's up there thinking, hey, keep at it, you're doing well. There's still questions to answer.

There is little doubt, though, that if it all happened again today, things would be very different. I can't help but imagine what it would be like if somebody had found those swords today. It would be phenomenal. It would be unbelievable. We'd now know hardly anything about the swords of Castignon. Were it not for the arms and armor trade and collectors and experts like David Oliver, who commissioned the articles by Ewert Oakshot and Clive Thomas? All the academic institutions use your articles as a reference.

Well, it's nice to think so. That's one of the objects of the exercise. These are works of reference. That's something which you just look at and throw away. They are retained. I mean, people are kind enough to refer to our articles, to our catalogs and auction catalogs and articles and books which are written on the subject. So hopefully it serves a purpose.

It beggars belief now completely as to how it was done. It just wouldn't happen these days. But the whole story, it provides a really intriguing sort of mystery, I suppose. We've now had 40-odd years. And the fact there's still a mystery to this story 40 years on, I don't think it's a good sign. I'll be optimistic and hope it will be resolved. I wanted to be resolved.

But maybe this is a mystery that will just go on and on. One day, I hope somebody is going to do a proper archaeological investigation of the site. Thanks for exploring the past with us today. If you like this episode, please be sure to follow for more. We post new episodes every Tuesday. and Thursday. Don't forget to leave a comment below, and feel free to leave us a rating or review.

Your feedback helps us reach more listeners like you. And for more from the Like a Shot Network, check out Where Did Everyone Go, Histories of the Abandoned, a deep dive into the incredible stories behind forgotten places, available now on your favorite podcast platforms. Thanks for listening.