Alice Roberts returns with another episode of Digging for Britain, once again crisscrossing the UK to uncover historical treasures. Wednesday’s westward expedition offers a particularly diverse array of finds, from Roman luxury to the somber realities of the slave trade.
Roberts begins her journey near Oxford, where a recently unearthed Roman villa complex promises to reveal new insights into Roman life in Britain. The villa, with its intricate mosaics and sprawling layout, speaks to a level of opulence not often associated with Roman Britain. While details remain scarce, the sheer scale of the discovery hints at a significant find.
Moving from Roman Britain to the Iron Age, Roberts heads to RAF Valley on Anglesey. Here, a routine sweep by Ministry of Defence metal detectorists yielded an unexpected prize: a remarkably well-preserved horse bridle and chariot fragment. These artifacts offer a tangible connection to a period often shrouded in mystery, raising questions about the chariot’s owner and its role in Iron Age society. MOD archaeologist Richard Osgood will join Roberts to analyze these finds and their potential significance.
Roberts then travels to the coastal town of Llantwit Major, where archaeologists search for the elusive monastery founded by St. Illtud. This site is of particular interest to historians, offering a glimpse into the early days of Christianity in Britain. While the monastery’s exact location continues to elude researchers, any discoveries at Llantwit Major could shed light on this formative period of British history.
Finally, the episode takes a turn toward more recent history with a stop in Ilfracombe, North Devon. Here, the excavation of a 17th-century farmhouse takes on a darker hue as historian Yasmin Khan’s research uncovers the involvement of local merchants in the transatlantic slave trade. This segment of the episode serves as a sobering reminder of the complex and often uncomfortable realities that lie beneath the surface of seemingly ordinary historical sites. Additional investigations in the Cotswolds, where roadwork unearthed a mysterious Roman building, and in Bristol, where a proposed shopping center development unexpectedly revealed an 18th-century water mill, round out the episode’s packed itinerary.
Digging for Britain airs Wednesday 15 January at 8 p.m. on BBC Two.
