Good morning, we are continuing with the Thirty-One Days of Time Team.  I am down to the final four episodes of Series 13.  Today’s episode is the second episode of the series: Villas Out of Molehills and the run time for this episode is 48:14.

Moles are bringing up pieces of mosaic floor in a Cotswold Field.  The Time Team travels to the Cotswold, to explore whether or not these tiles are linked to a nearby villa that was discovered almost 200 years ago.  Nobody was able to date the villa at the time of the original dig.  A nearby spring may give a clue to the purpose of the building.  Could this villa be a bathhouse?  Or could it be a sacred site?  The Time Team is on the case to find out.

The site was located in Withington, nearby a large Roman city called Cirencester.  This area was known as the bread basket of Britain during the Roman period.  The Time Team was invited by Roger Box, a local archelogy.  He talks about how the moles have been bringing up mosaic pieces over the years.  Mick thinks there could be a villa, but is more interested in the spring nearby.  The pieces that were brought up could hint that it was a villa, however, David Neal, a Roman villa specialist, believes that it could be a bathhouse.  

Geophysics works on the site and there is a massive target located.  Trench one goes in over the river site.  No sooner than the first layer comes up, Phil discovers more mosaic pieces.  They are all over trench one.  In 1810, the site was originally discovered.  There were some mosaics that were found and preserved during that time.  The Time Team will have to find the location of the villa because the location was lost.  Mick and Phil go over the notes that were made from the original dig.

Stuart walks the landscape to see if he can find the location of the villa.  The electric lines are proving to be a challenge to geophysics.  Stuart is using the electric lines to his advantage and he is armed with a watercolor made during the first dig.

More and more tiles are being found, so many tiles are being found that the digger is put away and every one hand digs the trench.  Some volunteers are sent to a stream to search for roof tiles.  Five hours later, Phil discovers a mosaic floor.  Tony takes part in the dig and discovers more of the mosaic.  Finding a mosaic on day one is a very rare event for the Time Team indeed.

More geophysics results come in and it shows different areas of occupation over the site.  Trench two goes in in the upper field.  The Time Team expects to find backfill from the original dig in 1810.  They are discovering roof tiles.  In Trench One, more and more of the mosaic is found.  Additionally, there is a chunk of wall found.  In Trench Two, a Roman wall is found, but is it the Roman villa?

In Trench One, another mosaic is found.  Phil goes over what he thinks is going on with Tony.  It seems there was a building with a mosaic in the corridor.  What will day two bring for the Time Team?  The targets for day two include spring and looking for the original villa.  Why would the Romans build a villa near a spring?

Mick is exploring spring the next morning.  He found stone channels and a stone basin.  He concludes that spring started somewhere else and that the Romans diverted the water to whatever they had built.  Could there be a third building on the site?  Is the Time Team working on a bathhouse site?  Or a temple site?  Or a villa site?  Tune into the rest of this episode to find out more.

Wow, wow, wow.  This was a fascinating episode because of all the finds that were discovered.  Even though the Time Team did have a limit as to how much they could dig, all the trenches produced the finds.  It was especially cool to see that there was a nearly intact mosaic discovered!  I would definitely put this particular Time Team episode on the list of episodes to show to a classroom.

Good morning, we are working on the Thirty-One Days of Time Team for October.  I am pulling an episode from Series 12.  This time we are going to Yorkshire, England, and learning about the Normans.  The run time for this episode is 47:58.  The episode is called The Norman Neighbors.

Frances Davies, a Time Team fan, has been collecting finds from fields outside her house in Skipsea.  She has collected a variety of artifacts from the Neolithic, Roman, and Saxon items over the years.  The items reveal that people were living in the area over 1,000 years ago.  However, the geophysics results hint at a large village.  Could this village be the seat of power for a Norman lord?  The Time Team has three days to find out, but will three days be enough for the Time Team to investigate the site?

Tony kicks off the episode by catching up with Frances Davies and walks along her field.  She displays the artifacts she made over the years.  Tony brings up the geophysics results she paid for showing a large amount of activity going on.  One year the fields were plowed deeper and even more, artifacts were discovered.  Geophysics is working on the site and two trenches are going in.  More and more finds are being found.

Carenza Lewis catches up with Frances to put all the finds out on a table according to a timeline.  This timeline will show the site's rise and decline in activity.  Phil is gaga over the flint finds that were found at the site.  Some of the earliest finds are from about 4000 BC and were among the earliest farmers.  Phil examines the artifacts and explains what they all are to Frances.  He points out a broken axe head among the finds.  Phil thought Frances could have found more flint finds at the site.

The high winds do not deter the Time Team from finding the potential of the site.  There seemed to be a rivalry that developed between the geophysics team, the landscape team, and the trenches to what could be found on site.  The site is on the North Sea.  Tony tries to stay out of the wind and catches up with Stuart in the car.  He talks about the landscape of the area.  He will be looking for clues as to what was going on in the field.  Geophysics continues to expand its survey.  Early results show plenty of noise.  John Gater also sees a boundary line in the field, so trench three is going over the ditch.  This ditch may end indicate a settlement.  There was a round feature that Tony would like to examine.  Stuart seems to believe this round feature will be a quarry.

There was a clear occupation in the Neolithic Period and then there was a decline in activity until the Norman Conquest.  Then occupation on the site picked up again.  The Norman pottery found at the site has the Norman Pottery expert happy.  One element of this episode was recreating a medieval pot.  The Norman pottery expert works on making a pot.  There was one item that came from the field that showed a thumbprint of the pot’s creator.

John keeps coming up with the geophysics results.  The finds also keep coming.  There is a piece of metal found in one of the trenches that looked like it collapsed on itself.  This piece of metal is confusing Phil, was this a feature of the ditch, or did it come from a later period?  Landscape and environmental archaeologists continue to learn more about the landscape.  Could there have been an ancient lake on the site?  The evidence seems to point in that direction.  What will the Time Team continue to learn about this site?  Will Tony blow away?  What caused the people to leave this site?  Tune into the rest of this episode to find out more!

This was one cool episode to watch because of all the finds that were initially discovered.  Frances was thrilled to learn more about what she initially on the site.  I also like the recreation of the pot that the handle would have been part of.  It was also surprising how fast the archeology revealed itself.  Over all, it would be a good episode for a history fun day.

Good morning, this time on The Thirty-One Days of the Time Team learn about Romans recycling.  The run time for this episode is 46:59.

Over the years metal detectorists have discovered a variety of metal artifacts from the Roman, Iron Age, and Saxon periods in a field that is between two villages.  The finds are in Lincolnshire and the locals believe there was a posh building in the area.  Lincoln was a great center for Roman Britain, however, there are no records of Wickenby being a center of Roman occupation.  So why are there so many finds?  The Time Team has three days to find out.

The initial geophysics results that there is a great deal of archelogy even though there are no records of a Roman settlement nearby.  What was really happening in these fields during Roman times?  Francis Pryor believes they are sitting on a major series of Roman settlements.  John Gater wants to do more geophysics on the site.  Tony Robinson has his suspicions.  Phil Harding talks about the geophysics showing that there was settlement going on and that by digging they are furthering the story.

Trench One goes in, over an area where a large concentration of finds was discovered.  It does not take long before the first finds emerge.  Geophysics work on the site as well.  So why does Wickenby hosts so many Roman finds, especially medal finds?  It was not on the road to Lincoln and its location would have been more appropriate for a farmstead.  However, the finds give a hint that the settlement was wealthy and active.  Tony goes around town and talks about the different columns that were found in the area.  The locals believe that these belonged to a posh house.

Phil shows off the initial finds that were found in the first trench.  He believes that this hints that there was a settlement at Wickenby.  However, there was molten lead found on the site which would hint that there was something being melted on the site.  This is the opposite of a farm settlement.  John Gater seems to have discovered a large anomaly also known as a blob that hints at the industrial nature of the site.  Guy de la Bedoyere then talks about the Roman industry of metalworking and recycling.

Trench two goes in over the blob.  Guy and Helen look over the brooch finds.  Helen disagrees that it was a metal scrap metal center.  There were plenty of brooches discovered over the site.  Helen points out to the brooches were finished and were not manufactured on the site.  It is only Day One and there is already a disagreement on the team.  As trench two goes in, Phil makes a find in the trench.  There is evidence of a ditch and charcoal.  The evidence of burning seems to hint that Guy is right about this site being for metal recycling.  In fact, in a previous dig, there was a metal bowl found on the site.

In the village, the evidence gathering continues.  Are the columns that were found in the village part of a Roman building on site?  The answer may surprise you.

Back at the first trench, more Roman evidence emerges as well as evidence of an earlier settlement.  Francis believes that this evidence points to an Iron Age Settlement.  Trench one is shut down and a third trench is put in based on John Gater’s geophysics results.  He found evidence of a circular building, perhaps it was an Iron Age roundhouse.  What John is showing, goes beyond a typical Roman Britain farmstead.

On Day Two the Time Team will investigate a spring and a potential roundhouse.  Tony catches up with Guy and Francis to talk about the site and its potential.  What will the Time Team learn about this site?  Is this site the home of something industrial?  Why were there so many brooches found at the site?  What about the evidence of the Iron Age Settlement?  Tune into the rest of this episode to find out more!

The artifacts that were found at the site were very intriguing, especially since there were so many of them.  It was also interesting to hear the Time Team talk about what the site was.  This would be a good episode for a history class and for independent study students.

Good morning, we are working through the Thirty-One Days of Time Team and this time the Time Team is investigating a gravestone in Castor, Cambridgeshire.  The run time is 47:54.

St. Kyneburgha Church is one of the most beautiful churches in England.  What lies in the graveyard has archeologists salivating.  There may be the remains of Roman structures.  What is this building?  Over the years, gravediggers have made many discoveries.  The Time Team is going to dig a part of the graveyard where there are no bodies.  Is there a building on this site?  Will Tony manage to find his way down off the roof?

Over the years there have been discoveries made in the churchyard.  Every time a grave was dug, another find was made.  Castor is five miles west of Peterborough.  It is on the River Nene and near a major Roman Road.  Geophysics works on a narrow strip of land for a survey.  A second survey is done in a nearby schoolyard.  Helen Geake catches up with local historians about a man obsessed with local archelogy.  Edmund Artist was a man with many talents and discovered he loved archeology.  He became a one-man Time Team.  He dug the area and illustrated what he found with beautiful drawings.

Artist surveyed the area and came up with a map as to where the Roman buildings are, so the Time Team is going to test his theory.  Tony catches up with Stewart Ainsworth to look at the map that Artist drew and what the modern city looks like.  In some places, what Artist originally found was reactivated, which is proving to be confusing to Ainsworth.  Stewart Ainsworth wants to remake a map and mark the locations of known archeology.  Roman walls are still visible along the lanes.

Trench one goes in, however, John Gater is confused about the results he is getting from the geophysics.  Phil immediately pulls out a piece of tile from the trench.  Mosaic flooring is also come up from the trench.  As the digger continues to work, more discoveries are found.  John Gater quickly realizes what he did wrong, he had the “Roman filter on.”  A sudden storm blows up soaking the archeologists.

However, even in the rain, the Time Team discoveries keep coming.  Trench one is turning out to be a gold mind.  The finds include Saxon pottery, Roman Pottery, and mosaic pieces.  So the site could include Saxon buildings.  Normally the Time Team does not find Saxon finds.  Trench two goes into the old rectory garden and trench three goes into the corner of the school field.  A Roman bathhouse was discovered in the school field.  Tony is getting the feeling that there is something special about Castor.

Helen catches up with a local historian in regard to the finds that were discovered in Castor.  Pots and pieces of wall plaster were discovered.  The painted plaster seems to hint at a beautiful building.  Geophysics goes into the north graveyard and in the afternoon the results come back.  John catches up with one of the people doing the geophysics and there seems to be something in the ground.  Earlier archeologists and finds seem to hint that there was a building in the north graveyard.  What is geophysics detecting? 

The finds keep coming from the first two trenches: Roman finds, Roman Tiles and pottery are being found in the trench.  Matt, one of the archeologists talks about the trench has backfill.  The rain keeps coming.  The search goes on for the Roman Baths.  Tracey, the archeologist working on the field trench, is confused as to what she is finding. At the end of day one, the Time Team is meeting at the back of the church.  The archeologists are talking about the potential for the biggest Roman building on the site.  Was this a headquarters for the military?  John reviews the geophysics results and is not seeing the building.  The Time Team has permission to dig in the churchyard for one day to see if they can find the building.  What else will the Time Team find out about the site?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out.

This was an interesting episode to watch and would be a good episode for research purposes.  This would be a good episode to show for a fun history day.

Good morning, we are going to continue with our Thirty-One days of the Time Team for October, and let us throw it back to an episode from series 13 and the history of the Industrial Revolution in Manchester.  The run time for this episode is 48:47.

Underneath a car park in Manchester lies the remains of a mill.  Manchester was a powerhouse in the cotton industry and it was a city that had a lot of mills.  In 1780, the first cotton mill in Manchester was built and was built by Richard Arkwright.  It housed the first steam engines.  It is now buried under a car park.  The Time Team has three days to discover and recover one of Britain’s most important historic sites.  Will the Time Team find the mill?

Tony catches up with Francis Pryor, Phil Harding, and a local historian.  There was a layer of cobblestones found on the site and these stones come from a layer that would have been the mill yard.  There was plenty of documentation and maps that show the mill, however, they are unreliable.  Mike Nevell, the local historians talk about how the site developed and that there may be multiple buildings on the site.  These different buildings would demonstrate the different phases of development.  Mike is optimistic about finding the mill.  Phil is thrilled with the dig, Tony points out that Phil likes prehistory.  Phil replies that this site is the prehistory of the Industrial Revolution.

Trench One goes in and it is hoped that at least one side of the mill.  A mill built in the Victorian Era was destroyed during the Blitz and the site has not been rebuilt.  As the asphalt is removed, Phil discovers a wall.  The trench is expanded and more of the wall is revealed.  Tony catches up with Mike and talks about the history of Manchester while looking at a map from the 1700s.

The Mill would have had an impact on the country.  The mill would have been a boom for Manchester and would have shocked the people who saw it.  People across the country came to Manchester to see the mill as if it was a tourist attraction.  This mill was the start of the Industrial Revolution.  Richard Arkwright, who built the man, was the father of the factory system in Britain.  He was a socially awkward man but grew wealthy through business.

Back at the car park, Phil strongly believes that he has found a mill wall.  Francis is skeptical that what was found is a wall.  Phil says he will find the proof that he found the wall of the mill.  Trench two goes in over the middle of the mill.  The Time Team is going to find where the mill was powered.  However, as they dig, they are finding fire-scarred bricks.  The mills were vulnerable to fire.  Additionally, there were broken clay pipes found on the site.  The workers would have been puffing on those pipes while they worked.  There were plenty of fires that happened in the mills at Manchester.  These mills would have burned down and would have been rebuilt.

The mills caused the population in Manchester to explode.  This population explosion leads to horrible living conditions in Manchester.  Karl Marx would have visited his mate Fredrich Engels in Manchester.  Here they would discuss the working and living conditions for the workers.  Tony catches up with Helen Geake about Marx’s writing.  Stewart is on the job as well, working on a survey on the site.  He is working with Helen to look into the living conditions of the workers.

The Time Team starts recording their findings.  They have discovered a door and a wall from the original mill that was built by Arkwright.  Additionally there are sites for the mill engine.  Will Phil prove that he is right about the wall?  What else will the Time Team find out about the mill?  Tune into this episode to find out more.

This was an interesting Time Team.  The archaeology was fantastic for the site and it gave a glimpse into the history of the Industrial Revolution.  This would be a second good episode to show while teaching the history of the Industrial Revolution.

Thirty-One Days of the Time Team has drawn to a close and we are throwing it back to season 2 and the final episode of the season.  The Time Team is investigating the treasure of a Roman field.  Tony still has his long flowing hair in this episode.
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Hundreds of Roman finds have turned up in a large field.  Broaches, pottery, coins, and a key were found on the site.  A local farmer wants to know if there was a building on the site.  A Roman key was found on the site, so where was the building that goes with the key.  Additionally, were some rectangular marks on the ground.  What were the marks on the ground?  Why were all these finds found in the area?

Tony and Mick are looking at the field from the air.  Trench One goes into the middle of the field because geophysics seems to hint at something in the ground.  This trench will allow the Time Team to test the geophysics results.  The geophysics has shown several ditches; however, Phil is only finding one ditch.  Roman pottery is showing up immediately which means the Time Team will not be short of finds on the site.  Coins have been found on the site as well.  All the finds that were initially found were exclusively Roman.

Despite these little finds, there were no substantial amounts of building materials found on the site.  Mick would be happy to find more building materials instead of the little finds.  Tony teases Mick about wanting to find bricks.  The Time Team will also use metal detectorists to help the find additional metal finds.  Tony hopes that the Time Team will find evidence of a building.  One suggestion is that the building will be timber-built instead of stone-built and that it was a farm site.  The farmers would have adopted Roman ways and would have been upwardly mobile.  The Time Team breaks for lunch to talk about the possibility of the site.

Trench One finally confirms that there were two ditches.  However, the second trench is not located where geophysics said it was located.  The dry conditions of the land are proving to be a challenge for the results.  Geophysics is showing some things but not others.  Stewart is plotting the ditches and the plot seems to hint that there were different periods of Roman occupation on the site.  The Time Team goes over the results again at the end of Day One.  Two more trenches will go in again.  The archelogy is just below the surface.

Phil spots something as Trench two goes in.  There are bits of crushed pot and charcoal in the new trench.  It is evidence of building on the site.  Was this a rubbish pit?  Or is it evidence of a house?  This second trench will be extended to try to show more of the site.  Trench three goes in to see if there is a floor level on the site.  Overnight, the trenches will be soaked in water to help make digging easier.

Robin Bush catches up with Tony at the end of Day one and shows Tony two Roman coins and talks about the history of the coins.  Robin concludes that there is the possibility of finding Iron Age finds on the site as well.  The Time Team will also perform an experiment: they will recycle glass.  Roman Glass is a rare find because it was often recycled.  So this experiment will help the Time Team understand the properties of Roman glass.  What will Time Team learn about this site?  Is this a settlement?  Or is it a farm site?  Tune into the rest of this episode to find out.

This would be a good episode for a fun history day in the classroom.

Good morning, we are continuing to wrap up October of the Time Team with an episode from season six.  The Time Team finds itself in Bawesey St. James, Norfolk.
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The Time Team is investigating a deserted church.  However, locals are finding metal dating back to the Iron Age.  Was this site a settlement?  The Time Team is broadcasting the dig live.  The site they are investigating is huge and has never been properly investigated.  A large number of finds have been found by the locals hinting at a large settlement.  So what was this site?  What will happen during the live show? 

Aerial photographs show that something is going on with the site.  The finds have come from a variety of periods: from the Iron Age to the Norman Age.  There was one excavation at the remains of the Norman Church during the 1930s but there were no records kept.  Trench One goes in on a boundary that shows up in the aerial photograph.  If there was dating evidence, Carenza will find it.

Neil opens up trench two at the church.  The church has a large tower which hints at its importance.  In fact, there were some high-status finds found earlier that may hint at a monastery on the site.  Stewart is out and about looking at the landscape.  Geophysics is also at work and had to adjust their equipment to read through the sandy soil.  There is an army of field walkers and metal detectorists on the site.

Mick and Tony talk about Mick’s attitude towards metal detectorists.  Mick loathed them because they would rob history.  However, it is a small number of metal detectorists do this.  Normally, they work with historians and archeologists to provide them with additional finds and information about the site.  The field walkers find their first find: a silver Saxon coin.  The coin would not have been worth much and would have been the equivalent of a penny.  A second coin from the Anglo-Saxon period is found, this coin would have been more valuable.  Both coins are very rare finds and place at the site during the Saxon period.

Carenza is making good progress on trench one.  There is a ditch on the site and Carenza feels like it comes from the Iron Age.  Trench Two yields a body.  Is this a Christian burial on the site?  On the other side of Trench Two, there is something interesting on the ground.  The Time Team also recreated a Saxon village on the site and will be recreating a piece of Saxon jewelry.

Geophysics throws the Time Team another target.  It looks like there was an entrance to the church area or a harbor.  The site is sitting above a marsh.  Trench three goes in.  Is it some sort of entranceway?  Phil is supervising this weekend because of an injury.  Will Phil keep himself from digging in the trench?  The skull was found in medieval and was buried during that period.  In fact, they are finding a glazed medieval floor.  A shattered piece of tile is found with the creators’ name on it.  Trench two is shut down and the archeologists put their skills elsewhere.  Trench Four goes in because it is becoming clear there was activity on the site.

What was this site?  Why were there so many finds? What was going on at the site?  How many more trenches will be opened up?  Will the Time Team find the rest of the boundary?  Tune into the rest of this Time Team to find out more!

This one would be a Time Team for research purposes and not to show in the classroom.

Good morning, we are continuing to wrap up October of the Time Team.  This time the Time Team will have to look at under 5000 tons of stone for their excavation.
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What was this site?  It has been called everything from a stone-age homestead to a fortress.  This site sits on a hill on a sheep farm.  Its crumbling walls still provide an interesting puzzle.  The site was nicknamed the castles.  The Time Team will have to find a date and the function of this enclosure.  A ditch may provide environmental evidence.  What will the Time Team discover about this site?  How many stones will the Time Team have to move to learn more about the site?

The Time Team converges on the site.  Stewart is looking at the walls and geophysics is doing its work.  An environmental archeologist looks at the ditches.  There was a lot of curiosity about the site.   However, the site has been investigated once and that was in the 1920s.  The archeologist was local and he looked in the enclosure for internal structures.  There were no internal structures.  There were no finds made at the time.  However, local sources seem to hint at fossilized trunks and flints found at the site.  There were photos of the site made during the 1920s.

The Time Team starts moving stones away from the site of the gatehouse.  Another trench will go in on a wall in hopes of finding datable evidence.  Since it is a dry-stone structure, it is difficult to tell the difference between rubble and wall.  Geophysics is having a little bit of difficulty with the trees and the stones so John will rely on the knowledge of a local farmer to find a place to start geophysics.

Tony catches u with David Mason a county archeologist to talk about the site.  It is County Durham’s least understood site.  There are a variety of stories about the site.  The rock enclosure was home to a local tribe.  The Romans used it as a penal colony where slaves were kept.  Tony concludes that there were plenty of stories about the site that eventually people believed the stories.  The variety of stories will prove to be a challenge for the Time Team.

Mick and Stewart talk with experts from English Heritage to talk about the possibility of the site being Roman.  The experts do not necessarily believe that the site was Roman.  That said, the trenches are progressing well.  The entrance or gate site’s archeology is proving to be a challenge.  Unfortunately, the site has provided no finds so environmental archelogy will take center stage.  A third trench is put in on the south wall.  Moving stone on trench three will be a huge job.

Phil is getting somewhere in trench one.  Maybe he is hitting the original ground surface.  Mick catches up with Phil to talk about the wall and the ground level.  The interior is going to be cleared so that geophysics can find evidence of the site.  At the end of Day One, there is a Time Team catch-up.  They go over the photos taken in the 1920s.  Mick seems to believe that it was a defensive site based on a small body of evidence.  What were these walls protecting?  Was it really a defensive site?  What will the Time Team find out inside?  Tune into the rest of this Time Team episode to find out more.

This would be an interesting show for a class on landscaping because environmental archeology took center stage.  This would also be a good episode for a fun history day in the classroom.

Good morning, we are nearly there with our Thirty-One days of the Time Team, and this time we are heading to Governor’s Green in Portsmouth.
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Portsmouth’s History as a seaport stretches into medieval times.  The Time Team will look for the history of Portsmouth, especially a hospital that was on the site.  The patch of green has seen a lot of action over the years.  A Tudor Mansion was built on the site.  During World War II bombs were dropped on the site.  Will the Time Team be able to discover the medieval history of the site?  Will they be able to discover this history without the bomb squad?

Portsmouth has the best deep port in England and is important to the defense of Britain.  Henry VIII fortified the harbor.  The site sits in one of the last remaining fortifications.  Tony catches up with the local historian to talk about the old medieval hospital and the history of the site.  The Chapel was built in 1212, eventually becoming part of a Tudor mansion.  Then the armed forces used the chapel for their services until World War II came and the chapel was bombed.  This is the first time that the site will be dug.

A history of the area was published in the Victorian era and included a list of the buildings on the site.  Can the Time Team trust this source?  While geophysics does its thing on the site, Stewart and a geography professor are looking at maps of the site, overlaying the Tudor Maps with modern maps of Portsmouth to determine how accurate they are.  A map from 1584 shows a detailed map of the hospital.  Armed with this map, Stewart will plot the location of the old medieval road to determine where the hospital was.  How accurate are these old maps?  These maps are almost too good to be true for the Time Team.

Tony then talks with Helen Geake and Carole Rawcliffe talk about the history of the hospital.  The hospital was dedicated to St. Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors.  The hospital was built by the Bishop of Winchester.  He was the most powerful man in England, and while King John was away in 1214, he ruled England.  The Bishop of Winchester established the hospital to look after the poor and the sick.  Carole is thrilled with the possibility of learning more about the history of the site because a loft of the records about it was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

The site potentially has the oldest stone buildings in Portsmouth.  After John Gater gets his results back and a large trench one goes in.  However, it immediately reveals a large modern concrete surface.  They will have to get beneath the concrete to find more evidence.  Trench two also goes in and there is evidence of a medieval building. 

Mick and Carole talk with Tony about the chapel building.  In Medieval Times the chapel would have been used for the hospital.  The people would have been able to watch mass and be taken care of by laypeople.  The impression would have been you were in a church where people were laying on the side.  The dig is off to a good start!  What will the Time Team discover about the chapel and the hospital?  Will the bomb squad have to be called in?  Tune into this episode to find out more about this chapel and hospital!

There is a fun little thing about this episode: Victor Ambrus the artist sneaked a drawing of Phil, Tony, and Mick in his artwork.  This would be an episode to show for a history fun day and for research.

Thirty One Days of Time Team Continues with an exploration of Treguk Castle.  What will the Time Team discover about this castle?
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Tregruk Castle is one of the biggest castles in Britain.  It is also the most mysterious castle in Britain. Why was this castle so big?  There are no buildings in the castle.  It is found in the Welsh marshes and was built to keep the Welsh in check.  The owner of the castle wants to learn more about the castle.  He had worked on clearing the forest in the castle and it changed the atmosphere of the site.  What will the Time Team find out about the castle?

The inner bit of the castle is devoid of buildings.  What was going on at the castle?  Why was the castle devoid of buildings?  There should have been bakehouses, private quarters, even a great hall in the castle wall.  Geophysics will have a problem with the tree roots.  However, Mick has trench one and trench two put in at the gatehouse.  Mick points out that the gatehouse is a good place to start off the dig because people drop things in gatehouses.

Tony catches up with Mick in the garderobe, where people went to the bathroom.  This will be another place to dig for the Time Team.  People drop things down the toilet.  This will provide dating evidence for when the castle was occupied.  Another trench goes in at the garderobe.  Helen Geake catches up with a Welsh Historian to discuss the castle and the family who built this castle.

Phil discovers a clay pipe in the trench and he is one happy archeologist.  This is dateable evidence for the Time Team.  Phil believes that this hints at a later floor level and that the earlier floor was above that level.  When the owners removed the drawbridge, then the hole was dug to allow people into the castle.  In the meantime, Stewart studies the landscape and learns more about how the castle was defended.

Tony then catches up with the site director to lay out what the castle would have looked like.  The space that needed to be filled was massive.  John Gater and his crew continue to geophysics and survey the site to determine the full scale of the interior of the castle.  However, John is running into problems with the tree roots.  Stewart reports back to Mick and the castle owner talks about the earthworks he discovered that could date back to the English Civil War.  Was this castle used during the English Civil War?  How much more of the castle was changed during the English Civil War?

Phil continues to discover more modifications to the gatehouse.  On the other side of the gatehouse, the Time Team is starting to make finds.

At the end of day one, a trench goes into the castle.  This trench is to test the geophysics of the site.  Tony is relieved to be making progress on the site.  Mick talks about the gatehouse and how it may not be the main entrance to the castle.  Its placement is unusual for Mick because it would have been difficult to bring in supplies.

Who built this castle?  Why was this castle built?  Who lived in this castle?  Why did the buildings disappear?  What was going on inside the castle?  Has the Time Team bitten off more than they can chew?  Tune into this episode to find out more about the mysterious Tregruk Castle.

This episode would be an excellent one to show in a middle school history class when the students are studying castles as well as a high school history class.