The historical site is one of three in Notting-hamshire where work began this week in a major £100,000 archaeological survey — with Annesley motte and bailey and Worksop castle also the focus of hi-tech investigations.
The surveys will help to reveal the precise location of mediaeval walls and hearths, helping experts piece together answers to questions about the buildings' histories.
They hope to uncover for the first time how and what they were constructed from, how long they were used for and the size and layout of the buildings.
Says project manager Ursilla Spence: "The potential of this survey to help us get a much more complete picture of the history of Sherwood Forest and north Nottinghamshire is immense.
"Nottinghamshire has a rich historical past, yet very little is known about many of the county's fortified castles and lodges. This survey will begin to change and shape our understanding of how and why we have the landscape we see before us today."
King John's Palace at King's Clipstone was built in the 12th Century and was used as a hunting lodge by King John in the 13th Century. Two walls of the lodge still stand, though the layout and size of the rest of the site is unknown.
Meanwhile, all that remains at Annesley and Worksop, two mediaeval sites, are the surviving earthworks of the mottes and baileys.