Looking forward to the next visit from Associate Professor Heather Burke and the team of Archaeology Students this February. Willow Court has much to reveal of it’s past through artifacts, be they in the ground or under the protection of the Derwent Valley Council or attached to the buildings themselves.

The most interesting find for me would be a confirmation that the wooden structures that pre-dated the Barracks are, where original plans suggest. At this stage the history would suggest the site in front of Frescati House, somewhat in line with the new gates of Willow Court is that site.

It is believed that the wooden structures which were written about in the book, “Troubled Asylum” were discribed as being totally inapproprate and leaked rain through the roof and couldn’t stop water running along the earth floor, were discribed in a letter of complaint that started the process of designing the Barracks as we see them today