Auckland Castle item rings a bell for the Bishop's monkey

Only in December, monkey-mad Memories told how Bishop Robert de Insula, who became Bishop of Durham in 1274, kept two monkeys at Auckland Castle “to drive away his cares”.

After dinner, he would keep the older monkey in its cage while the younger one was encouraged onto the table to stuff its face with almonds.

Then the older, hungrier, monkey was released.

The two monkeys would fight, with the older one usually coming off best. It would then pick the almonds out of the younger monkey’s mouth and eat them “amid roars of laughter proceeding from the Bishop and his guests”.

John Castling of The Auckland Project, Chris Gerrard of Durham University and Alice Roberts on tomorrow's Digging for Britain programme

The programme, fronted by Professor Alice Roberts, looks at some of the items that have been found around the 13th Century chapel – the largest private chapel in Britain (see Memories 461 in February 2020) – built by de Insula’s successor, Antony Bek, the rockstar bishop.

An artist's impression of Bishop Bek's chapel, which was the largest private chapel in the country

The finds include a medieval book clasp, a glittering chalice band, a gold rosary cross and a dinky bell.

The rare, intact, bell (above) was found in 2018 beneath the lawns in front of the castle. It dates from about the 14th Century. It could have been attached to a piece of clothing, to a horse harness or to a hunting dog’s collar. It could have been used in falconry, or it might have belonged to a jester – and some bishops are known to have enjoyed the company of such an entertainer.

But Professor Chris Gerrard, Professor of Archaeology at Durham University, says: “I wonder if it might be connected to the collar of a monkey, which we know a bishop of Durham had and were allowed to run free…”

Pink-haired Prof Roberts says: “I think you are letting your imagination run wild there, Chris.”

The programme also visits Loftus on the Cleveland coast where evidence of a 6,000-year-old salt-making process, the most advanced in Europe, which Memories 519 told in April 2021 has been found near the burial site of the Saxon princess.

It also tells of a 15th Century anchoress who was found buried in a church in York. An anchoress, or anchorite if male, was walled up in a little cell next to a church so she could concentrate on prayer. Food was passed into her through a small window, or squint, in the wall.

The anchoress at York had advanced syphilis and may have dug her own grave with her hands when she wasn’t praying.

The petrol station next to the former St Edmund's Chapel on Anchorage Hill at the entrance to Richmond. Picture: Google StreetView

Her story sheds light on what happened next to the petrol filling station at the entrance to Richmond. It stands next to a 12th Century chapel on Anchorage Hill, which gets its name because someone once agreed to be immured – walled up – as an anchorite next to the chapel.

However, the star of the show is undoubtedly the “monkey’s bell”. The site where it was discovered is now once again covered up, but more archaeology is going to take place in the summer in the Bishop’s Park.

Excavations at Auckland Castle

John Castling, the archaeology curator at The Auckland Project, says: “We’re hoping that we will be able to locate the Roman road which goes through the park as well as exploring the lodges, fishponds and bridges, which date from between 1100 to 1500.

“There are also potentially some prehistoric monuments in the park – although they could also be medieval rabbit warrens. We’ll have to wait and see what we find, and of course visitors to the Auckland Castle and its Deer Park are welcome to come to and find us while we’re digging in June and ask what we’ve uncovered.”

• Digging for Britain episode six is at 8pm on BBC2 on Sunday, February 12. It is also available on iPlayer.