In the 1930s, it was decided to begin a major archaeological excavation at the site, and so HM Office of Works employed Devon archaeologist Courtenay Arthur Ralegh Radford (1900–1999) to work as site director.
He had been employed as the Inspector of Ancient Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire from 1929 and 1934, and from 1936 was Director of the British School at Rome.
Excavation began in 1933, and in 1935 Ralegh Radford wrote an interim report and a guidebook entitled Tintagel Castle, published by H. M. Stationery Office.
The excavators employed former quarry workers (the last Tintagel cliff quarry was closed in 1937) who worked under a trained foreman.
They were instructed to clear the land on the Island, following and exposing any walling that they came across and keeping any finds.
Excavation was forced to cease in 1939 due to the outbreak of the Second World War.
Radford was required to take part in the war effort abroad, and many of the original site reports were destroyed when his house in Exeter was bombed by the Luftwaffe during the conflict.

In the mid-1980s, a fire on Tintagel Island led to considerable erosion of the topsoil, and many more building foundations could be seen than those recorded by Ralegh Radford.
In 1998, the "Artognou stone", a slate stone bearing an incised inscription in Latin, was discovered on the island, demonstrating that Latin literacy survived in this region after the collapse of Roman Britain.

Excavations during the summer of 2016 found the remains of various Dark Ages structures including well-constructed buildings of relatively large size dated to the 5th and 6th centuries, with pottery and glass finds indicating that the people who lived at Tintagel were of an upper class status, drinking wine imported from the eastern Mediterranean and using food vessels from North Africa and Gaul.
In 2017, archaeologists discovered at the castle a 7th century slate window ledge inscribed with a mixture of Latin, Greek, and Celtic words, names, and symbols.
In the 1930s, it was decided to begin a major archaeological excavation at the site, and so HM Office of Works employed Devon archaeologist Courtenay Arthur Ralegh Radford (1900–1999) to work as site director. He had been employed as the Inspector of Ancient Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire from 1929 and 1934, and from 1936 was Director of the British School at Rome. Excavation began in 1933, and in 1935 Ralegh Radford wrote an interim report and a guidebook entitled Tintagel Castle, published by H. M. Stationery Office. The excavators employed former quarry workers (the last Tintagel cliff quarry was closed in 1937) who worked under a trained foreman. They were instructed to clear the land on the Island, following and exposing any walling that they came across and keeping any finds. Excavation was forced to cease in 1939 due to the outbreak of the Second World War. Radford was required to take part in the war effort abroad, and many of the original site reports were destroyed when his house in Exeter was bombed by the Luftwaffe during the conflict.
In the mid-1980s, a fire on Tintagel Island led to considerable erosion of the topsoil, and many more building foundations could be seen than those recorded by Ralegh Radford. In 1998, the "Artognou stone", a slate stone bearing an incised inscription in Latin, was discovered on the island, demonstrating that Latin literacy survived in this region after the collapse of Roman Britain.
Excavations during the summer of 2016 found the remains of various Dark Ages structures including well-constructed buildings of relatively large size dated to the 5th and 6th centuries, with pottery and glass finds indicating that the people who lived at Tintagel were of an upper class status, drinking wine imported from the eastern Mediterranean and using food vessels from North Africa and Gaul. In 2017, archaeologists discovered at the castle a 7th century slate window ledge inscribed with a mixture of Latin, Greek, and Celtic words, names, and symbols.
Tintagel Castle