It involved scores of people removing hundreds of tons of spoil to reveal the surviving remains of the foundations of that historic building. It was probably one of Henry VIII's most ambitious and elaborate palaces. The 1959 excavation of Nonsuch has been described as a key event in the history of archaeology in the UK.It was one of the first post-Medieval sites to be excavated, and attracted over 60,000 visitors during the work.

A reel to reel tape recorder was employed and had to be physically synchronized with a projector and sound added after wet splicing and editing of the film. This was all a bit hairy as the 1/4 inch tape was led off the tape recorder, threaded around some pulleys on the projector and then back to the tape recorder, through the sound heads and back onto the take-up spool of the recorder. It was then all fingers crossed as the start mechanisms were released on both pieces of equipment in the hope that the splices held up, thus avoiding the film ending up in a tangled heap on the floor. This scenario I might tell you was not unknown when, in a darkened projection room, the eye was in sharp lookout to ensure that the sound and vision were kept in perfect synch. When the lights went up and it was discovered that the latter disaster had happened, the cry went out on many occasions -"DON'T MOVE!" You then had to be very eagle eyed to spot the trailing end of the film lurking somewhere in the confused muddle. Generally speaking once this was achieved; the film could be re-attached and safely but gingerly rewound to the take-up spool.