The Great British Dig discovers Roman stronghold in back garden as 2000-year-old artefacts uncovered

The first episode of new More4 series The Great British Dig: History In Your Back Garden arrives this evening, bringing the discovery of a Roman stronghold to our screens.

The new series sees host Hugh Dennis team up with leading archaeologists and local people to excavate gardens and discover the history buried under our feet.

The first episode focuses on a street in Benwell in Newcastle, which was the site of a Roman fort around 2,000 years ago.

The fort was once located along Hadrian’s Wall and was the base for 500 troops and their families from all over Europe, including soldiers from Germany and Spain.

With the help of archaeologists Richard Taylor, Natasha Billson and Dr Chloe Duckworth, Outnumbered star Hugh led the search into the area and quickly found results.

The occupants of the 1930s housing development in Newcastle were open to the dig, with one resident even claiming to have once seen the ghost of a Roman soldier – despite the fact she was ‘inebriated’ at the time.

The team uncovered the edges of the fort walls, and discovered that civilian buildings were built much closer to the fort walls than previously believed – which changed the understanding of the settlement.

Roman pottery and glass were found inside the six excavated gardens, with the items dating back almost 2000 years.

There was a Roman coin discovered too, which would have been enough to buy two loaves of bread at the time.

There was also a selection of 19th century material found during the dig, as well as the remains of a Second World War Anderson air raid shelter – tune into the show this evening to see the finds.

Four episodes of The Great British Dig are heading our way over the coming weeks, after the pilot episode became the most successful one-off programme of the year on Channel 4.

Next week, the team will head to North Yorkshire to excavate a medieval grave and attempt to uncover human remains.

The Great British Dig: History In Your Back Garden’ begins tonight on More4 at 9pm

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