Time Team: The 98 series

Programme 8: High Worsall, North Yorkshire

This week, Time Team is in High Worsall, near Middlesbrough. It has long been known that there is a deserted medieval village here but the Team have just three days to unearth the evidence that will explain why the population apparently disappeared into thin air.

All that remains of the village are 'lumps and bumps' where the houses once stood. Aerial photography shows them lined in neat rows with small agricultural plots stretching out behind. There are also the remains of the church and possible evidence of a manor house.

While Robin and a fellow historian set off on a trawl through the area's libraries and record offices, the first trenches are started, and it's not long before finds – both physical and written – are discovered that give intriguing clues to the life that was once lived in this north country village so long ago.

At High Worsall, Mick helps a man in a funny hat do something in the middle of a river.

What are they doing?

The White Company, a medieval re-enactment society, visited Time Team during the excavations at High Worsall, to demonstrate how the residents of the now-deserted village may have supplemented their diet with fish from the River Tees, which forms one border of the village. Mick and Mark Griffin placed a wickerwork fish trap, weighed down with stones, in a gap in a hurdle barrier in the river.

It was hoped that, overnight, sea salmon or trout coming up the Tees would swim into the funnel-shaped trap; when they couldn't go any further, they would be unable to turn around, and when they tried to back out, their gills would be caught by the little sticks protruding at an angle around the inside of the trap. Unfortunately, the Tees has changed much since the Middle Ages and is no longer suitable for upswimming salmon, and, of course, these fish are not nearly as common as they once were. Consequently, the trap was empty when Mick and Mark checked it the following morning.

Resources

Websites

This website contains links to other websites which are not under the control of and are not maintained by Channel 4 Television. Channel 4 Television is not responsible for the content of these sites and does not necessarily endorse the material on them.

Wharram Percy: The Lost Medieval Village
http://loki.stockton.edu/~ken/wharram/begin.htm
The story of a deserted Yorkshire village.

Books

Deserted Villages by T Rowley and J Wood (Shire, 1995) paperback £4.99
Explains why sites have been deserted, what a site might look like today and procedures for recording them. Also lists some good examples of sites to visit.

Deserted Medieval Villages by M Beresford and JG Hurst (Alan Sutton, 1989)

The English Heritage Book of Wharram Percy, Deserted Medieval Village by M Beresford and J G Hurst (Batsford/English Heritage, 1990)

Villages in the Landscape by Trevor Rowley (1978, Orion 1994) paperback £6.99
Examines the role of villages in England from prehistory to the present day. Includes tips for finding out more about past villages and helpful guidelines for practical fieldwork.

Everyday Life in Medieval England by Christopher Dyer (Hambledon, 1994) hardback £35
The villages may have become deserted and buried, but this book brings their inhabitants back to life. Topics range from freshwater fishing to rural violence, and the author examines deep social processes as well as everyday living.

Back to the Time Team Past programmes page

Back to the 1998 series page