Time Team

The Time Team is on the trail of a medieval mystery. Founded by Henry V and built by his son Henry VI, Syon Abbey was a large, wealthy monastery for nuns of an obscure Swedish order. During the reign of Henry VIII, it vanished... until now. What the team finds is on a huge scale, but there is disagreement as to what kind of building it was. It will take a deeper look to come to a conclusion.

There's a round island of stones in Loch Migdale. Could it be a crannog? 200 meters away, on the banks, is a small circular feature, a henge perhaps? The Time Team gathers experts on the prehistoric in order to find out. They set up a suction dredge to investigate two areas of the loch feature, and find wonderfully preserved timber. From there, it is easy for the team to deduce the structure!

The Time Team investigates a possible 5th century cemetery in a plowed field, where they find a metal shield boss. One male skeleton is holding a drinking vessel. There are hints of much earlier activity as well, including a Bronze Age barrow. Using authentic tools, they fashion a Saxon shield, and then demonstrate how the shields were most effectively used in battle.

Nobody knows what happened immediately after the Romans arrived in 43 AD because no Roman fort has been discovered in this part of Southeast England. The Time Team is on a mission to find the missing link. Local archaeologist Paul Wilkinson believes he has already found a military ditch, which would surround such a fort, however, geophysics cannot find any evidence of the ditch.

Green Island in Poole Harbour has already shown that it was a significant center of Iron Age activity, with evidence of industrial advancement and trading to and from the continental mainland. The Time Team has their hands full as the island is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, meaning they can only dig by hand. Not soon after they begin, the finds start to multiply.

The Time Team is revisiting the garden of Furnace Cottage in Churnet Valley, where the previous excavation of an Elizabethan blast furnace produced evidence of much earlier iron-making. Stewart surveys the landscape, to piece together a picture of water flow and other features essential to iron smelting. John is convinced that there is strong geophysical evidence for a furnace a mile away.