Digging for Britain (2010) s10e02 Episode Script

1
Everywhere you look, the rich
history of the United Kingdom
is there to be seen.
But hidden beneath our feet,
there's still a wealth of
archaeological treasure
just waiting to be found.
That's why each year,
all across the country,
our archaeologists dig, dive
and explore their way down
Oh, my God!
Some of the best stuff you're ever
going to see!
Oh, wow!
Look at this!
We've got an arrowhead.
searching for fresh discoveries.
Huh! Hypocaust!
Revealing the imprint of ancient
civilisations
It's been there for 5,500 years.
and unearthing fascinating
objects.
Fantastic decoration.
Any musket mortar yet, Aaron?
Wow! Look at that!
Every dig adds new pieces
to the ever-growing
archaeological jigsaw
that is the epic story
of our islands.
And I'm down!
This year, I visit digs in some
extraordinary locations
and solve mysteries using
cutting edge tools.
Oh, this is wonderful.
I'm joined by a trio of expert
investigators
So you can see how that gives you
a really unique signature.
That's right.
Excellent. So they were using food
as a type of bribery?
who dig deeper to answer the
questions raised by the finds.
That's how he got away with it.
Exactly.
Finally, the archaeologists bring
their best discoveries
into our tent
Yeah, it's a cracking find.
for up close analysis.
So it's completely unique
in Britain?
That's wonderful.
Welcome to Digging For Britain.
This time, we take a look at
the most exciting
archaeology being uncovered
in the west of the UK.
In Herefordshire, we unearth
the secrets beneath
one of Britain's most mystical
monuments.
It's extraordinary because what
we can see on the surface
literally is just the tip of
the iceberg.
The mystery of a long lost friary
in Haverfordwest
is finally solved.
We think it's a priest burial -
and it is rare.
I've never seen it before.
Oh, my God!
Some of the best stuff you're
ever going to see!
Oh, what?
Oh, my God!
And in Cheshire, I dig deep
Oh, this is getting a bit narrow.
going down a mine that's been
untouched for centuries.
Is that an old collapse?
That's not a recent collapse?
No. No, good.
Very old collapse.
Travel west from middle England,
and mid-Wales rises up as
the Black Mountains.
The rains that fall here
become streams,
and then rivers,
and eventually they flow
along the flood plains
of the Golden Valley
back into England.
Our first dig is on that border
between England and Wales,
near a village called Dorstone
in Herefordshire.
The crown jewel of this
ancient landscape
is up here on the crest
of a hill.
It is Arthur's Stone,
and it has nothing to do
with that entirely
mythical king, of course.
Instead, it's a Neolithic
monument that's been here
for thousands of years.
Around 6,000 years ago,
Britain's hunter-gatherers were
replaced by farmers.
The Neolithic was the final phase
of the Stone Age.
Arthur's Stone is a chambered tomb
called a dolmen,
and its construction is thought
to predate Stonehenge.
So no surprise, then,
it's also a scheduled ancient
monument protected by law.
No in-depth archaeology
has ever happened here,
and so these great stones,
their purpose and how they connect
to the land that surrounds them
is a mystery.
But this year,
Manchester University's
Julian Thomas got permission
to undertake
a major investigation.
Julian, you're here because there
are unanswered questions.
Yeah. This site, considering it's
positioned so beautifully,
we understand very little about it.
So we're trying to tease out
the history of this site
and trying to work out its sequence
of construction.
You want to know the real story,
but actually there are
a lot of myths
associated with this.
Yeah, absolutely.
So there's the idea that King Arthur
slew a giant here.
The giant fell back and broke
the capstone.
Or perhaps he knelt in prayer
on top of the capstone.
And then more recently, CS Lewis
took the idea of the stone table
on which Aslan is slain, from this,
as well as an inspiration.
So it's as if this place seems
to attract activity
and attract stories.
We've got these stones.
What was this?
Is this a chamber that was
covered up under a mound?
Well, I think what is important
there is the capstone
as something that's visible
Right.
because it's evidence of a feat
of mobilising people
and mobilising labour, which then
almost levitates here
as something which is just going
to be remarkable to people
in the Neolithic.
And is this a capstone that is
broken or is it two stones?
It is a capstone that's broken,
and it's entirely possible that it
broke during construction.
The two halves of the capstone are
supported by upright stones
to create a chamber,
and there's an entrance corridor
at each end.
But Julian is not digging amongst
these stones,
but in the ground around them.
You are actually digging
into the mound
to see how that's constructed?
We're digging into the mound.
Because rather than just
a pile of stones,
it seems that it's actually been
put together
in a very careful, very skilful way.
So can we go and have a look
in the trenches? Yeah.
Let's go this way.
This is unprecedented.
It's an incredible opportunity.
Julian's team has been allowed
to actually excavate
in several specific sections
of the mound,
revealing intricate Neolithic
stonework.
Look at this! There's something
rather interesting.
Look at that!
So, is this?
This is just rubble that's fallen
down over the top of it?
Yeah, but underneath it is this
surface of dry-stone walling
which has been there
for 5,500 years.
That is gorgeous. Did you expect it
to be there?
Well, we hoped there might
be something like this,
but this is far better than
we possibly imagined.
Yeah.
It's just incredible.
That's just lovely.
And it's got a bit of a curve to it?
Yeah.
Just defining a quite small
forecourt area here.
So this wall is forming a kind
of bulbous horseshoe shape?
Yes, it's going right the way
around the mound.
Julian isn't just here to get
to the bottom of exactly
when and how the mound was built.
Experience tells him larger
Neolithic features
might surround this monument,
so his team have opened
two wide trenches.
And now something quite
extraordinary
is appearing.
And here we've got this avenue
of posts coming down
and disappearing.
That's fantastic!
A wonderful line.
And huge post holes!
So these would've held really
substantial timbers.
Yeah, telegraph poles.
Yeah.
So we've got a line of at least 15
coming down in this direction,
and we've got the other side
of the avenue
coming through in that trench now.
It's extraordinary because it
means that what we can see
on the surface today literally
is just the tip
of the iceberg.
It really is.
And we only dug here in the first
place because we thought
there might be pits or post holes.
The discovery of this impressive
ceremonial entranceway
suggests there's far more yet
to uncover on this site.
Normally scanning and survey
techniques on the ground
can reveal the best places to dig.
But this clay-rich soil is almost
impossible to scan through,
so the team is using a new technique
to see what lies beneath.
Adam Stanford is pioneering
archaeological surveying
using specialised drones.
So, Adam, you and Scott are here
doing this aerial survey.
What does that entail?
First of all, we're doing
photogrammetry. Yeah.
So that means that we're taking
lots and lots of photographs
that overlap.
I've seen it - a lot of trenches
on the ground,
but you can actually take it up high
and do it? Absolutely.
We can survey hundreds of hectares
of landscape like that. Yeah.
Here, we're doing around
about 40 hectares
around Arthur's Stone.
Archaeologists down in the trenches
use hand-held cameras,
but the drone uses GPS
to move between hundreds of
precise positions,
each time snapping a high
resolution image.
Then the magic happens
as specialist software is used
to stitch these pictures
together into a 3D model.
The result is an extraordinarily
detailed and accurate record
of one of Britain's most famous
ancient monuments.
So what else are you doing
apart from photogrammetry?
So Scott's just taken off
with another drone,
which has got a thermal camera
on it.
So we're looking at the difference
in temperature of the ground.
Right. And so let's say,
for example,
we've got rocks just below
the grass. Yeah.
That's going to get hot
during the day
and it's going to retain the heat
for longer
than the surrounding soils.
But then we can see that there
are gaps where the geology
should continue and then it doesn't.
It does that because it's quarried
for the site here.
So you're seeing features
that you don't see
on the surface, walking around.
Absolutely.
Then the other technique
that we're using
is multispectral imaging.
So this is looking at the different
bands of light
that come down and bounce off
the ground,
that we can't see with
the human eye.
So what does that tell you?
For a site like this, we're looking
at the difference in the amount
of chlorophyll in those plants,
and the health of the plants
indicated by the chlorophyll
will then tell us if there's
anything underneath
the ground which is affecting
the health of the plants.
So this is seeing crop marks
that you can't actually
see with the naked eye?
Absolutely.
Amazing tools for the archaeologists
to be able to draw on,
not just to record the site,
but to plan whatever
they're going to do in the future
as well.
Adam's survey results are adding
to an already huge
haul of completely new information
that the team are collecting here.
It all means that Julian is starting
to unpick the real history
behind Arthur's Stone.
How many phases are you
finding, then?
What's the sequence of events?
The sequence seems to be we've got
our turf mound,
which is then cut by this series
of post holes.
Then we must have the big
stone mound.
And somewhere in that whole sequence
we've got to add the dolmen
chamber as well.
So there's five or six
different phases
in this whole monumental complex,
and all of that is probably taking
200 or 300 years.
I can imagine it's quite
a nerve-racking thing
to open it up like this to see
what's going on?
Yeah, what is really scary is
wherever we've opened up
a hole here,
we've found something completely
unexpected.
What they're finding here
is really exciting
because we've got this dolmen,
but there's an earlier phase
which involved an earthen mound,
and probably around the same time
we've got
a series of massive posts set in the
ground,
and those huge post holes
forming a sort of processionary
way up to this mound.
And who knows? They might've had
banners fluttering from them.
And then it seems we have
the construction
of this megalithic dolmen.
And then this becomes a tomb.
It's a chamber tomb.
So there would've been
bodies.
Bits of bodies placed in there.
These were communal tombs.
And there's another monument
which goes right over the top of
both of these structures.
So the earthen mound disappears
underneath it.
And it has this kind of strange
two-pronged entranceway
at the front there.
And that is encircled by that
beautiful dry-stone wall
going around the outside.
So, in a very sketchy way,
that's what Julian and the team
have discovered
here at Dorstone this summer.
Our ancestors built their megalithic
monument on top of this scenic hill,
a place to see and be seen.
But the seductive landscape
of the west
is not just about looks.
What lies beneath,
hidden in the rocks,
has been a magnet for industrious
Britons for centuries.
For our next site, we travel
to Cheshire
and an elevated ridge full of
fascinating geology
known as Alderley Edge.
The rocks here date back more
than 200 million years.
But this story is set much
more recently -
at the dawn of Britain's
industrial boom.
Alderley Edge is a magical place.
It's wreathed in myth and legend,
and it's absolutely steeped
in archaeology.
We know that Bronze Age miners
were here 4,000 years ago,
digging for copper ore.
We know the Romans were here,
digging for lead ore.
But the archaeology I've come
to see is much more recent.
It dates from two centuries ago,
but it has only just come to light.
In 2021, strange depressions
appeared in the ground,
so local cavers investigated
and discovered
a deep vertical shaft.
This led to a completely unknown
early 19th century mine network.
That's where you come
out of the shaft
and you come into this chamber.
It goes on that way.
And then that way.
They filmed their very first
exploration.
Oh, my God!
It's a tiny little chamber.
Yeah?
With some of the best stuff
you're ever going to see.
Oh, what?
Oh, my God!
A survey company was called in
to map the full 200 metres
of the mine, creating this 3D image
of the labyrinth
that lies underground.
Since then, an access hatch and
a winch have been installed,
and today I'm joining
Derbyshire Caving Club
for some further fact finding.
No, that's still really
But first, team leader Ed Coghlan,
who helped discover the mine,
has some finds to show me.
There's a clay pipe, so they were
smoking down there.
These wonderful personal items
and tools
are datable to around 200 years ago
when this mine was abandoned.
Presumably these are what
was actually used
to mine the ore and extract it?
Yes. It was all hand-dug here.
What's this vessel?
So this was a bowl that was found
buried in a wall.
Why do you think they might've left
a bowl like this down there?
As they were very superstitious,
miners Were they?
they would often sort of say
thank you.
Keep this mine's spirits happy.
Yeah.
They're known as knockers.
You'd often hear a knocking noise
to signify "head this way,"
"you're doing well" sort of thing.
Of course, I absolutely don't
believe in such superstitions,
BUT I hope the mine spirits
are going to be very,
very kind to us today.
I'm sure they will be.
And we're putting their bowl back,
so they should be.
If you pull down the lever, you can
feed the rope into it. Lovely.
I'm going to accompany Ed on a sort
of reverse archaeological dig,
placing some of these objects back
where they were found
Oh, mind your head.
and retracing the footsteps
of those early miners
who left them behind.
So we're a lean, mean team
here at Alderley Edge.
We're with Derbyshire Caving Club.
And then, in terms of our own team,
it is just me
and the cameraman, Colin,
going down there,
because it's going to be a tight,
tight squeeze.
But it's a unique opportunity
to see this newly discovered
part of the mines.
Our exploration will take us along
more than 100 metres of tunnels
to the deepest accessible point
of the mineshaft.
Rope's free. Remember, the cable
will take it.
Right, I'm coming down.
Oh, I can see all the pick marks
from the people that actually
dug out this shaft.
And I'm down!
I made it!
And it's completely pitch-black
down here!
And Ed's gone. He's disappeared.
Ed, wait for us!
Now the hard work begins.
As we follow in the footsteps of
those 19th century miners
Oh, I can stand up here!
their prized treasure is revealed.
Not copper or lead
Oh, wow!
but something much rarer -
cobalt.
That is cobalt, is it? Yeah.
That black?
So this is what they were here for?
Yep.
This is the cobalt ore.
And it's beautiful.
It's sparkling. It's almost indigo.
And they're following these veins
of cobalt through the rocks here.
In the early 1800s, this raw
material was in great demand
as Britain's manufacturing
industries boomed.
Blue cobalt-based dyes were used to
embellish a range of products,
from glassware to paper
and top-of-the-range ceramics.
But in 1806, Napoleon blockaded
exports from Europe to Britain,
cutting the supply of cheap cobalt
from the continent.
So new British sources
were sought out,
and in 1808 this rich seam was
opened at Alderley Edge
and the miners set to work.
That was the shoe that we found.
Ah!
So do you think that is
a 19th century shoe?
Er, yes.
It is of the era.
Yeah.
There are reminders everywhere of
the men who spent many hours
down here working in the dark.
You can actually see the remnants
of the clay
that they'd use to hold
the candles in place.
Oh, yeah.
You see the soot up there.
So they would've been doing this
by candlelight? Yeah.
At this point, we need to return one
of Ed's prized finds
to its original place in the mine.
This is the wedge.
So a wedge like that would've been
just hammered into?
Into the wall?
Yes.
These are the wedge marks.
So that's where a wedge has gone in.
And then this whole block
has fallen down? Yes.
Yeah. So they'd have been
coming into this.
The cobalt was separated,
then the remaining sandstone cleared
and neatly stacked.
It was an art. Almost like
dry-stone walling, yeah.
Whether we want to set it off,
like in that?
Yeah, we could do.
Here, we're joined by surveyors
Kira and Josh.
Time for some scanning!
Yeah.
They've been creating the 3D map
of the mine,
and today they're recording
even more details
of this intricate space.
We collect the data with
the laser scanners,
and they collect a million
points a second. Right.
So they can pick up spaces
in the rocks
that you can't actually see
with your, like, human eye.
So it's an amazing way to record it
as well. Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
Their data has created this
impressive digital model
of the mine.
It's a brilliant tool for
understanding the layout,
but this virtual fly through makes
it look rather too easy.
Oh! This is getting a bit narrow!
It's got pretty tight down here.
It's going to get a bit wider,
isn't it, though, guys?
Yes, definitely.
Excellent.
The tunnel twists and turns,
and then a sudden drop
to a dead end.
Have you got any ambitions to clear
that out and explore down there?
We'd love to, but we daren't
disturb that.
This would be disturbed and this
would all collapse down
on top of you?
Yeah.
Right, so we're going to go down
there and through the hole.
Oh, we're going down there?
Yeah.
Oh, brilliant.
There is a way through and
it is well worth it.
In this impossibly narrow pocket
Oh, my God!
one of the cobalt miners
has left his mark.
Oh, that's amazing.
Is that done with the soot
of a candle?! Yep.
So, on the 20th of August, 1810,
there was a miner in here
holding a candle
up to the ceiling
and just let the smoke create
this graffiti.
Very lovely handwriting.
That's brilliant. And I must say -
brilliantly spotted, Ed.
50 metres into the mine,
and Ed shows me his most stunning
find yet -
the tool that miners used to haul
the ore up from deep shafts.
This is the windlass.
That's amazing.
And this was a mining implement
for hauling material
from a lower level.
So it's a winch, basically?
Yes.
And this is the hook they were using
for hooking the buckets up.
Oh, yeah.
So this handle would've been turned?
Yes.
And then you've got this
wooden shaft here
with the rope coiled around it.
For us, it's quite an important one,
because it's the first one that's
ever been found here. Is it?
Yeah. To leave it here
is an odd thing,
but this passageway would've
continued through.
But at some point
it has collapsed.
Is that an old collapse?
That's not a recent collapse?
No, no.
No, good.
A very old collapse.
So we have to go up and around it.
OK.
Sounds simple, doesn't it?
At last, we reach our final
destination.
So this is the end of the road.
We can't go any further.
We're now at the deepest accessible
part of the cobalt mine.
From here on, the shafts
are flooded.
Look at this!
But with the wonders of
modern technology,
there is a way to keep on exploring.
Oh, wow!
I know!
It's so clear!
Kira and Josh have a mini remote
controlled submersible.
Oh, it's in action.
This is really exciting.
Yeah.
Now it's my chance to try.
So if you want to have a go and see
what's in there. Oh, thank you.
So, as I say, left, right,
up and down
on the left control.
OK.
And then forwards, backwards.
Via the video feed from
the submersible,
I can search this underwater
labyrinth
for remnants of the mine's past.
It's still swimming, isn't it?
Yeah.
It's swimming, swimming, swimming.
Just very slowly.
Yeah.
Oh, I've just crashed
the submersible.
You'll find that happens a lot.
OK
Once I get the hang of it, I guide
our robo-archaeologist
into a shaft that no-one has set
foot in for over 200 years.
Some of the pick marks.
Oh, yeah.
The pick marks, yeah, on the walls.
Oh, this is wonderful!
The dark blue veins of precious
cobalt are clear to see.
Looks like it might be another shaft
a little bit like this.
Oh, I can see the light.
That's the lights of
the submersible.
Well, that was just fantastic.
What a brilliant tool
for exploring the mine.
And it looks as though this mine
continues quite a way.
Really exciting to have a go
as well.
I loved that.
Our time below is up.
It's been almost as short-lived as
the rush for British cobalt.
Napoleon's defeat at the
Battle of Waterloo in 1815
led to his surrender, and he was
sent off into exile.
With Europe at peace, cheaper
continental cobalt
started flowing back across
the Channel again
and the Alderley Edge mine
was wound down for good.
Before leaving, there's one
final stop -
to return the bowl left by miners
as an offering to those
mystical knockers
And this is close to where it
was actually found? Yes.
albeit in some 21st century
Tupperware
for ultimate protection
from the elements.
There we go. So that's our offering
to the spirits of the mine
at Alderley Edge.
And the spirits have treated
us well today. Yeah.
A little bit more crawling
than you thought.
Over Alderley Edge
He took his horse
Where the day is endless night
As we resurface
Said the man as he stood
in the park
there's a traditional
Alderley Edge miner's serenade.
But the farmer said
she's not for sale
Till I get to Macclesfield Fair. ♪
Thank you very much!
Oh!
That was amazing.
Oh!
That really is incredible
down there.
It's
It feels like you're stepping
into another world.
And you are. You're going back
in time 200 years ago
to when the miners were there,
exploring those cobalt veins,
chipping away,
probably only making a metre or two
of progress each day,
but carving out this extraordinary
system of tunnels.
And they're all still there
beneath our feet.
Give me faith and give me love
Afaining from the clouds above
The sea below lent strings to bow
If I can't jump
Just push and shove ♪
The ocean that laps at our shores
is essential to the identity
and history of our islands.
Trade, adventure, new ideas have
travelled back and forth
across the seas that surround us.
And it's in the ports around
our coasts
that some of the most
compelling evidence
of those connections emerges.
Although sometimes it's in danger
of being swept away
before archaeologists have
the chance
to get their hands on it.
Our next dig is at the site
of a last-minute
archaeological rescue in Plymouth
on the Devon coast.
Maritime tradition in Plymouth
runs deep and long
back through the centuries.
It was from here, in 1620,
that the Mayflower set sail
for the New World.
In the following decades, this
quayside was built and redeveloped,
hiding numerous layers
of construction.
But in early 2022, a near-disaster
opened up a chance
to explore the port's
rich seafaring heritage.
Recently, a bulge
was seen in the quay wall.
And the tarmac was cracking.
The outer stonework had started
showing its age.
Plymouth University's Martin Read
was an interested onlooker.
So the danger was that the wall
would fall into the sea
and take not just the wharf with it,
but quite possibly the road behind,
as well.
Urgent repair work began.
But in order to save the quay wall,
they had to remove unstable layers,
revealing evidence
of earlier construction.
I got talking to the workmen,
and they were showing me the odd,
small fragment of pottery.
And then, one day,
they showed me something
that was quite spectacular.
This fragment of earthenware,
which has this multicoloured slip
and bright glaze.
This fragment belonged to a rare
17th-century earthenware bowl
from Pisa, in Italy.
So, what was this doing in Plymouth?
Keen to discover more,
Martin enlisted volunteers
to help him search,
but they could only sift through
the rubble from the old quay
once it had been scooped away
to safety.
And you can see,
we've got a skip-load of fill
from behind the quay wall,
which the workmen have removed.
And it's hell to go through.
Our team have been carrying out,
as far as I'm aware,
the first example of skip-salvaging
by archaeologists.
So this is a very unusual site
in many ways.
Their hard graft has paid off.
In amongst the rubbish used as fill
by the quay's early builders,
the team has found a treasure trove
of pottery fragments,
suggesting Plymouth had
far-reaching trading links.
We've got a range of different
pottery here
from all parts of the world.
And that, for example,
comes, we think, from Italy.
It's got to be a patter
from Florence.
During the 17th century,
hundreds of ships would sail from
Devon every year,
heading for the rich fishing grounds
off Newfoundland.
They'd then sail on to Europe
to sell some of their catch,
and then return to England,
bringing back not just fish,
but also, fine European goods.
These exotic fragments of pottery
from the collapsing quayside
have a fascinating history to tell,
so Martin has brought some of
his best finds
to the Digging For Britain tent.
So you've got your team
of volunteers,
and they are finding
lovely bits of pottery,
but what does the archaeology
tell us that we didn't know before?
What it provides is evidence
of this, this trade
in a sealed context.
Martin's finds have been traced
to two distinct phases
of the quay's development.
One from the late 1660s,
and an earlier layer from the 1650s,
at the time of Oliver Cromwell's
short-lived republic,
otherwise known as the Commonwealth.
During the Commonwealth period,
I can't identify any of
the Southern European ceramics,
but we are getting stuff
from Germany and Holland.
Why?
Probably disruption
by the Royalists, I think.
That's just beautiful,
with that blue glaze on it.
So this is Westerwald
from the Rhineland,
and they're very characteristic,
this cobalt blue and, er the grey.
And these have these animals on.
They're great! So, this is
just after the Civil War?
Yes. Yeah. In the 1650s.
But then, after the restoration,
from the layers that we think are
in the 1660s,
then we're suddenly finding
all of this material from Spain,
France, Italy, Portugal.
This is lovely,
this marbled pottery.
This is from Pisa, in Italy,
and it's just gorgeous.
So this would have been
an enormous great bowl. Yeah.
Basically, fishermen
were bringing back pottery
from Iberia and the Mediterranean.
So on some sites in Plymouth, 50%
of the ceramics are Mediterranean.
It's the highest proportion
in England.
Is it?! Much higher than London.
That's remarkable,
that it's higher than London.
Well, in London, you had access
to better wares locally,
whereas in Plymouth,
you just didn't.
You can see, who wouldn't want
to eat off plates like this?
There's one thing that
we haven't spoken about, Martin,
and it's this. What is that?
Technically, it's known as
a star bead,
and it's our star find. Is it?
It's, er it's from either
Venice itself
or an island in Venice Lagoon
called Murano,
which still makes glass today.
Murano glass, yeah.
And these would have been
high status.
They would have been somebody's
expensive necklace,
who would have been very unhappy
to have lost one bead.
What a nice collection
to find in a skip!
And brilliant that you spotted it,
because the landfill of yesterday
is the archaeology of today.
Yes, very true.
Over the centuries, Britain's elites
stamped their presence
on the landscape,
creating monumental buildings
that still exist
as landmarks in our towns
and countryside.
At no time is this more true
than under the Normans
during the medieval period.
And our next dig takes us to the
far-western edge of Norman control.
The Pembrokeshire market town
of Haverfordwest.
Its imposing castle reminds us
that Haverfordwest
was a key strategic stronghold
for the Normans.
What's left of its grand,
once-towering friary nearby
shows this was also
a key religious centre.
The Augustinian monks chose
to situate their friary
outside the town, though.
They would have been somewhat aloof
from the ordinary people
of medieval Haverfordwest.
But there was one religious order
that was embedded
right in the heart of the community,
though physical evidence
of THEIR existence
has proved incredibly elusive,
until now.
These were the Dominican friars,
who, unlike those monks
out in the friary,
lived in town, providing support
for those in need.
Records show that their friary,
St Saviour's,
was founded around 1246,
and remained right in the centre of
Haverfordwest for hundreds of years.
Henry VIII brought all of that
activity to a sudden end,
and the precinct, with church,
with stables, with gardens,
was built over and has disappeared
from modern Haverfordwest.
But there are still clues.
Now a major town centre project
has given archaeologists
an amazing chance
to solve this mystery
underneath what was
a local department store.
The demolition needed to clear
the way for this new development
has revealed what appears to be
the site of the long-lost friary.
And it's in here!
Dyfed Archaeological Trust have been
excavating here for several months.
Only five Dominican friaries have
been recorded in the whole of Wales,
so if this is the elusive
St Saviour's,
it's a truly significant find.
Fran! Hello! Hello!
Fran Murphy is leading the dig.
Well, you've certainly got
some archaeology here.
Yes! It's very, er intriguing
archaeology.
Have you found the long-lost friary?
Well, I think we have.
We're in the friary grounds
at least,
but I'm not sure at the moment
we have enough evidence
to say that we are inside
a building.
There are no old maps to work from,
but they found what looks like
an external wall,
which probably surrounded
the entire friary compound.
This is really exciting, cos
you don't really see much evidence
of medieval Haverfordwest at all.
No. I mean, this is the first
excavation that's ever taken place
in the medieval town
of Haverfordwest.
The first-ever? First-ever.
With its river trade links,
Haverfordwest boomed
in the 13th century.
And as the town grew, so did
people's day-to-day problems.
It's thought that around
40 Dominican friars lived here,
providing a lifeline
to the poor and desperate.
But evidence suggests their home
was far from humble.
This is one of our earliest finds.
It was found during an excavation
of a post-medieval drain.
A similar example of this tile
was found in the Greyfriars
in Carmarthen.
Lovely floor tiles!
Beautiful floor tiles.
So, they've come out of this trench,
but you don't think they're in situ?
No, I think these are
what's been thrown away.
The fragments of floor tiles
that have come from the friary
church of St Saviour's.
They're lovely.
They really are lovely.
Archaeological detective work
links these tiles
to other contemporary friaries.
The ones that I have had
some advice on
are 14th to 15th century in date.
This one actually forms a roundel,
a 16-tile pattern,
which says, "Deo Gratias."
So, they're well-known designs?
Yes. Yeah. They must have had
a pattern book or something
and they they bought them
Yeah off the peg, if you like.
Like an IKEA Yeah!
..for friaries?
And, er we have ridge tiles.
These are locally made,
probably from the Llansteffan area
in Carmarthenshire.
A nice thing to have on your roof!
They're very nice.
You can imagine them, can't you,
glinting in the sunshine Yeah.
when they're reflecting
the glaze on them.
The whole building would
have been impressive, I think,
and indicative of a high-status
monastic building. Yeah.
Where do you think it was, then,
if it's not right here?
Well, I don't think the building
material that has been dumped
has moved very far, so I suggest
it's just under that wall there.
Really? Yes.
You can't dig that. No.
There's still a building on it.
There is, unfortunately.
But I think what it has shown is
we've definitely,
I think, now pinpointed
that it's here.
Fran's found other tantalising clues
that a high-status building
occupied this site.
Well, these are more delicately
carved stone that I think has come
from the interior of the church.
Yeah. As you can see,
we have a little angel's head.
That is beautiful. Look at that!
Expert stonemasons
would have chiselled and shaped
these exquisite carvings.
You can see its little face.
Yeah, I mean, it's damaged at the
top there, but you can still see
eyes, nose, mouth
and these little fingers here.
And he's holding something.
Yeah.
If this IS St Saviour's,
they would have taken care
of the townsfolk in this life
and into the afterlife, too.
Archaeologists have made their
most significant discovery yet -
a large cemetery.
We've found 17 individuals,
which have been buried
and a lot of charred remains as well
of earlier graves.
The remains they uncover
are cleaned by volunteers
in a pop-up lab next to the site.
What have you found, then - anything
particularly piquing your interest?
Some bones. Yeah.
This is all human. Yeah.
Here, my expertise in human anatomy
comes in handy.
So what part of the body
would that be from?
That is from the sacrum.
So it's from the very lowest part
of the spine.
And then what you've got here
is a range of finger bones.
We've got some metacarpals.
Are they? So they sit there
in the hand. Yeah.
It's amazing that it's all lain
there underneath a department store.
Yeah. You went there, did you?
Yeah. I wouldn't have thought.
Bizarre. Yeah.
St Saviour's was
at the centre of life
in medieval Haverfordwest
for centuries.
That was until Henry VIII
broke away from the Catholic Church
in Rome in 1534.
And then came the dissolution
of the monasteries,
when religious property
across the land
was seized by the Crown.
On September 2nd, 1538,
St Saviour's suffered this fate.
This material hasn't been moved,
and it's just sat here
for hundreds of years.
To have the opportunity to excavate
these deeply stratified deposits
in medieval Haverfordwest
is a first,
and it's a privilege to do it. Yeah.
It's amazing what we've uncovered,
and still have a few months to go.
It turns out
Fran's words were full of wisdom.
As, sure enough,
three months after I left the site,
the team find further evidence
that this WAS St Saviour's.
They uncover more burials -
a lot more.
We have been in the process
of excavating,
well, nearly 280 skeletons so far.
If I'd known initially that it was
going to be this many,
I probably would have panicked.
But, as it was, we just had to cope.
This was clearly a very large
cemetery, the final resting place
for the whole community
of Haverfordwest, old and young.
So we've got two child burials here.
So this one may be
about a two- or three-year-old.
And I would say
that this one's about under ten.
The team have uncovered burials
from the 13th
right up to the 17th century,
beyond the life of the friary.
Each one of them carries unique
information about their life.
Some of the people in their lifetime
probably were suffering
from syphilis because we can see
the effects on the bones
and rheumatism, spina bifida.
That information we can't get
from any other type of find.
In the earlier layers
from around the 14th century,
the team believe they've found
evidence of the friars themselves.
We're at the western end of the site
and we excavated
a number of stacked graves,
very neatly aligned east-west.
They were all adults and their feet
came right up against the wall.
It does suggest
that they could be friars.
Could this be the evidence
Fran's been seeking
of an actual friary building?
It would suggest that there is
a building to the west of this wall,
but we have very little evidence
for floors,
and that is confusing us, I think.
They just seem to have been
taken away completely.
At the other end of the site,
though, it seems they have found
the religious heart of the friary,
the church.
What we are revealing
are stone-lined crypts
that have contained coffins,
which we are sure
have been below a building
that stood above them.
One medieval burial from
the earliest years of St Saviour's
confirms Fran's conclusions.
It was interred in a coffin,
and it was then put
in a stone-lined tomb.
Found with the male skeleton
in this high-status tomb
were a pewter chalice and a plate,
otherwise known as a paten.
The objects used for offering
bread and wine during a Mass.
Only priests can celebrate Mass.
So we think it's a priest burial.
And it is rare,
and I've never seen it before.
And where he's buried
adds weight to Fran's theory
that they've found
the original friary church.
It wouldn't be uncommon for a priest
to be buried at the eastern end
of the church nearest the altar.
It's difficult to say because
we've lost all the above-ground
and all we're getting is
what's survived below ground.
But we hope by the end of it,
we'll have a much clearer idea.
Further work will help Fran
finally plot the exact positions
of the friary and its church.
But what's clear is that
this Haverfordwest dig
has led to one of the most-important
medieval discoveries
in all of West Wales.
If you picture a prehistoric house,
you're probably thinking
of a round house built of timber
with a thatch or a turf roof.
And these types of houses
were fairly ubiquitous
in the Bronze Age and the Iron Age,
and leave the faintest
of archaeological traces.
But, if we go back even earlier,
into the tail end of the Stone Age,
the Neolithic, in some places
we see very different forms -
larger, more substantial
and even startlingly modern.
For our next dig,
we head to Northern Ireland
and the outskirts of Londonderry.
Centuries before Stonehenge
was built, as farming culture swept
across the British Isles,
in places it came with a radical
new style of building.
In 2021, archaeologists were digging
on Clooney Road in Derry
before developers moved in
to build new homes.
But it turned out that people
had lived here before,
thousands of years ago.
The archaeologists uncovered rare
evidence of two Neolithic dwellings.
The archaeology is
incredibly well preserved.
The outline of the houses is clear
to see, and they're distinctly
rectangular
and surprisingly spacious.
This is our excavation here
of the Clooney Road in Derry.
Katie McMonagle from Northern
Archaeological Consultancy
shows us around
her Neolithic des res.
So this is one of our very
impressive Neolithic houses.
These date from roughly
3800 BC till about 3500 BC.
And as you can see here,
very impressive walls here,
slots that would have been used
as a foundation
and probably would have been filled
with oak planks
that would have been supported
by the outside post tools here,
which are massive.
So these would be really
substantial structures,
probably supporting a massive roof
that would have been peaked
at the top and come right down.
With a footprint
of over 100 square metres,
the larger house would have dwarfed
the average home of today.
That's very big
for a Neolithic house.
So you're probably talking about
20 to 25 people, an extended family
group of people, living
in this lovely flat landscape,
where it would have been beautifully
wooded, which is where they probably
got their oak posts from
to build their house.
And for Stone Age times,
it seems rather modern living.
The teams found evidence of internal
walls used to subdivide the house.
This is where we think the house
was separated into two.
There's not as much digging
in here -
pits and things, so it shows maybe
that this is more
where they were actually living.
So it shows a more homely life here
and a more working life here.
The teams found evidence
of Neolithic food preparation -
a quern-stone.
As you can see, it's quite smooth
on the surface.
This is where they would
have been grinding down.
And then this is our grinding stone.
So, basically, like this sort
of motion for grinding down grain,
which is obviously going
to be very commonly associated
with the home, you know,
if you're making food
and stuff like that.
The discovery of burnt surfaces
suggests several hearths.
And evidence of more prehistoric
mod cons keeps on coming.
These are what we think
are stake holes.
Probably show that they're used
for hanging things on -
food and things like that -
off the ground,
or possibly to help cook
certain things as well.
You can imagine people actually
sitting in here eating their dinner.
All those kind of things.
In the last few months,
the team have found
nearly a thousand fragments
of Neolithic pottery
in this home alone.
Oh, yeah, lovely. That's great.
We have some Neolithic ware.
It's a bit dirty, but I'm sure
it will shine up nicely.
Just found some lovely pottery,
coming up just in the side
of our wall slot.
We've got a fair bit of pottery.
Oh, nice.
Some decent-sized pieces.
And some bits
with the rim still on it.
Neolithic houses are found
throughout Ireland,
but our house here on the
Clooney Road in Derry, it's huge.
And, as well, coupled with
the house at the back,
it also shows that these people
have been living here
for such a long period of time.
Clooney Road is a remarkable site,
giving us a privileged insight
into the Neolithic settlers
of Derry.
But there's more to learn
from the finds,
so Katy has come along
to the digging tent.
Katy, thank you so much
for bringing these finds in.
And my eye is immediately grabbed
by that aerial photograph
of your site.
Yeah, it's amazing, isn't it? Yeah.
I mean, I kind of want to ask,
"Where's the archaeology, then?"
But it's so extraordinary.
And what about the finds?
You've brought in a selection here.
Oh, yeah.
So out of the bigger house here,
this is some Neolithic
carinated bowl,
and these are most likely used
for food vessels.
Right. OK. Yeah.
This would be your carination.
We've got sort of like
a wee lip that comes out.
So these vessels all would
have been bowls, so carrying water,
cooking, all those kind of things.
So it leads to the conclusion that
it is definitely domestic setting.
People are living here,
eating here, working here.
I mean, it's well made. It's
quite It's quite thin, isn't it?
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Like, these people
are very skilled. Very regular.
And this is not wheel thrown, is it?
This would have been more likely
they would have made
sort of like sausages of clay
Yeah.
and then coiled it,
and then formed it,
like with thumbs
and things like that.
That one's got a hole in it.
This is probably one
of the nicer finds that we had.
So we think maybe
that this is for using to hang it,
so whether it be over the fire,
something like that,
or even carry it if it's for water.
So that is really nice.
Really nice.
Now, what about these lovely?
Yeah, these are amazing.
This came out of the wall slot.
So this is a plano-convex knife.
So it's flat on one side Yes.
and convex on the other.
Yeah, exactly.
And it's very, very well knapped.
All this here is beautiful.
Like these people
are very highly skilled.
Yeah. It's crazy.
And for these kind of things,
in the rest of British Isles,
these are actually found
in the Bronze Age.
Oh, really? Yes. Yeah.
So in Ireland, they come a lot
earlier, so they are found
in earlier Neolithic contexts.
Katy, what's this little one?
So that is an early Neolithic
hollow scraper.
So this is quite unique
to Ireland actually.
So, as you can see in here,
you've got a serrated edge.
Really finely serrated.
It's amazing.
So we think possibly
these were used for stripping bark.
Yes. I mean, it's got to be
for stripping something
which is cylindrical in profile.
Yes. And then you're moving
that along and stripping it.
We found that
from the first building.
So whether or not they were
stripping bark to be used
in the house Yes.
..It's hard to know.
It's really lovely.
Mysteriously, this style
of large rectangular houses
with stone foundations is unique
to Ireland and Scotland,
but the trend doesn't last long.
So for dating, you're talking
about sort of 3800 BC to 3600 BC.
And a lot of work
was done based on hazelnut shells,
which actually narrowed the
timeframe to about 90 years of use.
Right. OK.
So they are very short lived. Yeah.
Whether they just changed their
minds and decide to go back
to round houses. Yeah. Who knows?
But they're a very short-lived
phenomenon and I think that
in itself is just amazing.
To only have it for 90 years
is just crazy.
I wonder why they stopped
making them. Yeah, I don't know.
It's a very strange thing
and I don't know
Like, in my mind,
that's nicer than a round house.
And you've got that
delicious mystery as well.
Yes, obviously. Yes.
Why? Why they change.
And I think that is
a big question Yeah.
that needs to be answered.
Why has it changed
and why is it so short-lived?
While archaeologists try to crack
this mystery, we can only marvel
at these grand, imposing testaments
to Neolithic ingenuity.
Next time on Digging For Britain
Oh, look, ribs!
I help uncover a group
of Roman burials with pots
where the skulls should be
Somehow this has got
to mean something.
the discovery of a 3,000-year-old
bark shield inspires
some awesome
experimental archaeology
I think you could still actually
inflict some damage with that.
I mean, I'm not going to do it,
Matt, but
and clear evidence of musket ball
damage at a newly-revealed
medieval gatehouse
fires imaginations.
This might be the location of
the first battle of the Civil War.
This site just gets
better and better!
Come and search for
We would search
And looking for a scarred land
And dig for those whose stories
Lie with buried paths
and futures won
And dig for us as we have done
To lay the dead out in the sun
To lay us dead out in the sun. ♪