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.

Good morning, we are going to kick off another Thirty-One Days of the Time Team with an episode from series 18.  The run time for Time Team is 47:59.

The Time Team is investigating the early days of the Industrial Revolution.  Derwentcote was at the heart of an iron and steel complex that helped spread the British Empire.  The Time Team will have their hands full, clearing away decades of brush and growth to access the site.  There was a hodgepodge of processes going on at the Derwentcote site.  The Time Team has three days to excavate, hopefully, the Time Team will be able to get to the archeology. 

It will take time to clear out the undergrowth in order to put it in the trenches.  Tony works alongside to help get the growth removed.  Iron and steel were made at the site and its history is little known.  English Heritage rebuilt a steel mill.  Not much is left of Derwentcote.  Steel and iron produced in this area made their way throughout the British Empire.  When it comes to the Industrial Revolution, the Derwentcote site flies under the radar.  What can the Time Team discover about this site?

Before the first trench can go in, there will have to be some heavy-duty pruning.  The growth may hide an important piece of history from the Industrial Revolution.  If this site is so important to the Industrial Revolution, why was this site overlooked?  Where are the big chimneys?  Why are the walls so little?  What is known about archeology?  Geophysics is finding surveying a site a challenge.

Trench One goes in over a set of earthworks.  What will the Time Team find in the trench?  As the first layers go in, the Time Team is making some finds.  Phil Harding calls Francis Pryor over to show what is found.  Phil is dreaming big about the site.  In the meantime, Tony catches up with a local historian to talk about the Industrial Revolution.  The nuts and bolts of the Industrial Revolution would have been supplied by sites like Derwentcote.  Marilyn Palmer, an Industrial archeologist talked about the tools made during the Industrial Revolution.  For the first time, ordinary people could have access to metal, and they used metal to improve their lives.

The Site at Derwentcote may be a challenge for the time team.  The recreated furnace nearby made steel for tools.   There could be a variety of furnaces at the site that could help make metal.  There could have been a variety of phases to the site.  Tony then talks with John Gater about the geophysics of the site.  Due to the trees and brush, geophysics is proving to be a challenge.  John eventually concludes that they will have to geophysics the path.

Phil continues to work in trench one and is continuing to discover more walls.  After a few hours, Phil is inside a single building.  A few moments later, the site gets better.  He discovers burning on the site, which means that there was a furnace on the site.  However, as the Archeology goes deeper, one side of the site floods.  The Time Team will have to have pumps to drain the water.

Stewart continues to survey the site and looks for a source of water.  He is using a highly developed method: a stick.  He talks about how water was diverted to the site to help with metal-making.  There was a huge pond on the site with a dam and the water was managed with little channels.  Francis and John talk about the landscape and what it tells about the history of the site.  The Time Team will look at the dam site, but first, they will have to clean up the area around the dam site.

How many phases of the Industrial Revolution will the Time Team Find on the site?  What was made on the site?  Will Phil get the water drained from his trench?  What can this site tell us about the people who lived there?  Why did the work stop at Derwentcote?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more.

This episode would be an excellent one to show during the Industrial Revolution section in a history class.  Tony’s humor was on point during this episode and it was fun to see the Time Team immediately find archaeology on the site. 

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, after today there will be four more Time Team blogs.  Then we will finish up our Thirty-One Days of Time Team for October.  Then for November and blogs on World War I and World War II.  December will be fun and frivolous documentaries to end the year.
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The Time Team is at Glendon Hall, and it is a building that has over four hundred years of history.  The owner decided to build his mother a new house and when the diggers started digging they discovered a body.  Not only did they discover one body but they discovered many more bodies.  Why were these bodies found in an outbuilding?  Who put them there?  Who are they?  The Time Team has three days to find out more.

The Glendon Hall and the estate surrounding it is a patchwork of buildings in different styles.  Martin Hipwell, the owner talks about discovering the bodies while building and working on building a new house.  It did not take long for Martin and the builders to realize that there was more than one body on the site.  Mick talks about the potential for a cemetery on the site.  At one point there was a church on the site so maybe the possibility of the cemetery is right on the mark.  The Time Team will work in the shed and look for the church.

There were plenty of skeletons that were found on the site.  So while Phil works in the shed and the cemetery, the Time Team will look for the church.  There is a folly on the site and some of the material looks like it came from a church.  Stewart and Richard Morris, a historic buildings consultant look at the folly.  Richard pulls out a piece from the folly and it is a piece of marble that looks like it came from a tomb.  Are these pieces from the church?  The church looked pretty nice and would have been attached to the original Glendon Hall.

The Time Team goes into archives.  The Local historians say that the stained glass in the windows at Glendon Hall came from the church.  Tony and Richard take a look.  Richard says the glass is not stained but the glass is painted.  This would hint at a person who had a lot of money and who was willing to spend a lot of money on his church.  Helen looks back to parish records about the church.  It seems the church was small and active until 1812.  The building was described as a two-room church.  There are no details about burials. 

Stewart takes Mick on a walk around the site.  He found something on an earlier map that may hint at a hall or a church on the site.  There is a kink in the road.  So this means instead of going straight through the road had a kink which meant it was going around something.  Was this road going around a house?  Was this road going around a church?  Geophysics will have to take a look at the site.

More and more bodies are being found in the shed.  Children and adults are found buried.  Were these plague victims?  Why were they buried here?  Earlier records indicate that there was a settlement on the site that consisted of nine households.  Are these the remains of the people of that settlement?  Will the Time Team discover a medieval cemetery?  Will they discover a church on the site?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out!

As for my recommendation, this would be one episode to skip showing in the classroom.  It is a good episode but should be used for teacher enrichment and not student enrichment.

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 the Time Team continues but it is winding down for the end of the month!  Did you ever think we would get through another thirty-one episodes of the Time Team?  This time I am taking an episode off the Absolute History channel.  This episode is a throwback to season three where Tony had a lot of hair.
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In the Hunt for the Lost Irish Palace, the Time Team is looking for King Connor’s lost palace.  King Connor built three palaces, the remains of two were discovered and now the Time Team is looking for the third.  There was archeology done on two hills of the lost palace site and there were remains of settlements found.  The Irish Chronicles and ariel photos hint at something.  Could this be King Connor’s lost palace?  Time Team has three days to investigate.

Mick and Tony catch up with Chris Lynn, who is in charge of the monuments.  They talk about the landscape and how it impacts archeology.  Trench one goes in over the markings that the aerial photographs showed.  Tony talks with Robin Bush about the Irish legends and King Connor.  The Irish Stories show the background of the people who lived in the area.  Did King Connor really exist in history? Or was he a substitute for a different King in the area?

Phil Harding discovered a Neolithic Axe in the trench and lets Mick and Carenza know.  The Time Team is excited about the find because it is something that is not normally found.  However, the period is one thousand years earlier than the palace.  Tony looks to clarify the Irish Chronicles in light of this discovery.  The Time Team breaks for lunch and they talk about the Tain, the Irish Chronicles they were working from.  The Tain could be considered something akin to Homer and his works. 

After lunch, Tony takes a tour of the local museum.  There have been findings made over the years that hint at the importance of the site.  This museum shows that there may have been three large roundhouses on the site.  At the end of day one, the war room comes together to look at the site to determine where the dig should continue. 

At the start of Day Two, Mick and Tony take a look at the geophysics results.  The geophysics reveal evidence of a ditch running parallel to the site.  This ditch could be protecting something, like a third palace Tony excitedly points out.  Tony wants to know where a second trench could go on the site.  The decision is made, and so the Time Team has to get the farmer’s permission to dig that ditch.  The farmer gives them permission to dig.  Geophysics brings out some different equipment to help determine where the second trench will go.

Part of this dig includes some experimental archeology.  A blacksmith will create a disk using iron age methods.  However, this blacksmith insists on speaking Gaelic to Phil as he talks about the experiment.  They work together to heat up the metal to form the disk.  The blacksmith will beat the piece of metal to size in preparation for adding the decoration.

A second trench goes in and there have been interesting finds made in that trench.  Eventually, trench one is starting to produce some finds including pieces of pottery.  What is the pottery the sign of?  What will the geophysics reveal of the site?  What were the ditches protecting?  Continue to watch this episode to find out more about this Lost Irish Palace.

This episode would be a good one to show just for fun to both a middle school and high school history class.

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.

​The Thirty One days of the Time Team continues with a mysterious villa in Litlington.

The people of Litlington believe that their villages hide one of the best-kept Roman secrets in Britain.  A vicar put in a trench and decided that there was a huge villa in the town.  Another dig discovered a cemetery.  However, the records of the dig have been lost.  So the Time Team will spend three days putting Roman Litlington on the map.  Will Time Team find the villa that was found over a hundred years ago?  What will the Time Team discover about Roman Litlington?

The Litlington site last dig happened over one hundred years ago.  So Time Team is the first modern dig on the site.  At the start, Time Team is confused due to the lack of information on the villa.  There was one piece of information left behind and it showed what the villa looked like on a map.  How accurate is this map?  If it is accurate it would have been one of the biggest villas found in Britain.  The locals had been finding Roman items for decades.  Some of the archelogy has been found on the surface and have included roof and floor tiles and hairpins.  Some of the finds suggest that there was a grand Roman Bathhouse.

As geophysics works the field and the Time Team will look in a small forested area for more finds.  Whatever was on the site covered a large area.  As they take down trees, there are immediate finds on the site.  Were these items dumped here?  Or were they part of a building that had fallen down?

As the geophysics comes back, the results are disappointing.  Upon further review with the landscape archeologist Stewart Ainsworth, the geophysics team may have been looking in the wrong spot.  Stewart believes that the map does not look as accurate as was originally thought.  So they are sent to another part of the field.

As the Time Team digs in the forested area, they are finding a tiled area.  Was this part of a building?  The tiles are not revealing anything.  The Time Team has not been able to put in a trench in the field because of the lack of targets in the field.  They will have to turn to landscape archaeology to try to find the villa in the field.  Despite the lack of targets, the trench goes in on the basis of a one-hundred-seventy-year-old map.  As trench one goes in, a piece of Roman tile is found.

The Time Team continues to dig in the forested area and has found the remains of a well, which is following the tile floor.  A second trench will go in at the forested site.  A second trench will go in in the field near the forest to find the rest of the wall.  More finds are found in this forest site including plaster with paint remaining on it.  The locals are thrilled to see the remains of a Roman floor and Roman wall.  Do these finds indicate something high status?

Tony catches up with trench one.  There are no remains of a Roman villa at the site.  There were remains of a Medieval trackway.  There was no evidence of a villa in the field.  Tony feels like this is turning into a disaster.  However, the site director is hopeful that there was a villa on the site.  Will the Time Team actually find a villa on the site?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more.

This would be a good episode to show for a fun history day.