A team of professional and voluntary archaeologists have uncovered what seem to be the remains of a medieval castle in a north Pembrokeshire car park.

The dig, organised by PLANED, Cambria Archaeology and the National Park, and funded by the EU Transnational project, is taking place at the castle site in Maenclochog, beneath the village's car park.

So far excavators have uncovered what look to be the outer walls of a medieval castle, as well as post holes, the hearth of a medieval house and fragments of medieval pottery.

They have also discovered the skeleton of a dog, which archaeologists think is likely to be a family pet dating from the Middle Ages.

"When they first discovered bones the first thought was 'Oh my goodness it's a human,'" said PLANED's Christian Donovan, "But it is a dog.

"It looks like it was laid to rest carefully, which has lead the team to conclude that it was someone's pet."

She said that the discovery of the stone walls, dating from the early middle ages was really exciting .

"I don't think they expected to find that. It is looking as if it was a site for a medieval castle and possibly even a castle before that. We will know a lot more once the experts have had time to analyse the finds."

The dig came about after documentary research, commissioned by the local community forum, identified the possibility of a castle existing on the site.

"The information had been passed down the generations by word of mouth but nobody knew if it was really there," said Christian.

"The only way to find out was to dig."

Volunteer archaeologists, many from the local community, are being trained and are working alongside professionals from Cambria Archaeology.

Visitors to the site are given daily tours and children from local schools are also getting the chance to get their hands dirty.

"It's a living history lesson about what was in their community," said Christian.

Excavations at the site are continuing until September 30th.