Early bath

Time Team came to Ffrith, in Flintshire, north Wales, to try to find out more about the Roman remains that keep turning up in the village. A huge quantity of Roman finds and evidence of buildings have been discovered here over the past four centuries. These include significant chance discoveries from 1585, 1709, 1828, 1870, 1874 and 1933, as well as the results of organised excavations in 1893, 1910, 1926 and – most recently, and of most interest to Time Team – 1967-69.

The 1960s' excavation, carried out in advance of a housing development, uncovered a number of walls. Their layout and other discoveries in the village suggested to the excavators that they were digging a substantial Roman building, possibly a bath house.

With houses and other buildings tightly packed around the area that Time Team wanted to explore, the scene was set for a classic back-garden excavation. And with just three days to come up with some answers, the Team set about turning the well-tended village gardens into a muddied mass of trenches. Heavy rain throughout the first day, and growing doubts about the conclusions of the 1960s' excavators, only served to muddy the waters even further.

The village recreation ground, a chicken run and (almost inevitably) the local pub car park were all turned over as the experts tried to get to grips with Ffrith's Roman heritage. Did there used to be a Roman bath house here? What was Time Team able to uncover in the short time available to it?

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