History and Legend

Tintagel Castle Collection Highlights

Much of what we know about Tintagel Castle, and the important settlement that preceded it, comes from excavations and discoveries made by archaeologists.

Explore ten highlighted archaeological objects in detail here.

Select a thumbnail to view a larger image of the object and to find out more about it.

Artognou Slate

Artognou Slate

  • Date: 4th–6th century
  • Material: Slate
  • Place Made/Found: Site C, Tintagel island

This inscribed slate was found during excavations in 1998. It has names written in 6th-century letters, including ‘Artognou’ and ‘Colianuus’, literate people who perhaps lived in the settlement at Tintagel.



Greek Pottery

Greek Pottery

  • Date: 5th or 6th century
  • Type: Amphora
  • Material: Pottery
  • Place Made/Found: Tintagel island

These two pieces of amphora, dating from the 5th or 6th century, were found during excavations near the later Great Hall. Produced in Greece, they were used for transporting wine and olive oil.



Stoppers

Stoppers

  • Date: 5th or 6th century
  • Material: Slate

These discs were probably all stoppers, used to seal amphorae in conjunction with beeswax. Made of local slate, they show that the pottery vessels were being reused for some purpose at Tintagel.



Imported Glass

Imported Glass

  • Date: 5th or 6th century
  • Material: Glass

These glass fragments from a bowl, a stemmed glass and a flask were probably made in southern France. At this time glass vessels were rare, and their presence shows the high status of the occupants of Tintagel.



Quern Stone

Quern Stone

  • Date: Post-Roman
  • Material: Stone
  • Place Made/Found: Northern ruins

This rotary quern stone, which would have been used to grind grain, was found in the northern ruins of the building remains of the post-Roman settlement. It measures 57 centimetres in diameter and probably dates to the post-Roman period.



Grave Marker

Grave Marker

  • Date: Medieval
  • Material: Stone
  • Place Made/Found: Chapel, Tintagel island

This stone, carved with a shallow relief cross, was probably a medieval grave marker. At least one grave is known near the chapel where this was found.



Medieval Pottery

Medieval Pottery

  • Date: 13th century
  • Material: Pottery

This piece of 13th-century multi-coloured jug, made in Saintonge, France, was probably used to serve in the Great Hall. Such high status pottery suggests that important visitors were received here.



Architectural Stone

Architectural Stone

  • Date: Early 12th century?
  • Material: Stone
  • Place Made/Found: Chapel, Tintagel island

This stone was found in the chapel and is probably part of a window surround. The Romanesque style of decoration may suggest an early 12th-century date for the chapel.



Roof Tiles

Roof Tiles

  • Date: Medieval
  • Material: Tile
  • Place Made/Found: Tintagel island courtyard

These two locally produced crested roof ridge tiles were excavated by Ralegh Radford during clearance of the island courtyard in the 1930s. These would probably have been part of the Great Hall roof.



Silver Groat

Silver Groat

  • Date: 16th century
  • Type: Coin
  • Material: Silver
  • Place Made/Found: Garden, Tintagel island

This silver groat of Elizabeth I (reigned 1558–1603) was found by the archaeologist Ralegh Radford in the 1930s in the medieval garden. It was perhaps dropped by a visitor.