A NEW exhibition is showing how secrets locked in DNA are telling the story of life in medieval Dudley.

Deer Park at Dudley Museum and Art Gallery uses the remains of animals including fallow deer excavated at the town’s castle in the 1980s.

Fallow deer are not native to Britain and were introduced by the Romans, mainly as show of wealth when the larger male specimens were prized. When the Romans left the deer died out and native red and roe deer began to repopulate.

When the Normans invaded, they brought fallow deer with them, this time for venison. The deer from Dudley are among the earliest mediaeval deer to be discovered and were introduced within 50 years of the Norman Conquest.

The dig at the castle unearthed rubbish pits full of kitchen waste including the bones of a variety of animal species.

As well as proving presence of fallow deer, work on the remains also showed cows in Dudley grew bigger than cattle in other herds at the time.

The museum on St James’ Road, Dudley is open 10am to 4pm Monday to Saturday. The exhibition continues to the end of the year and admission is free.