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Time Team: Christmas Special
28 December 1997
As a curtain-raiser for the new series of Time Team, which started in January, Tony and the team gathered to celebrate
the festive season with a look back over the last five years and
the archaeological odyssey that has taken them from prehistoric
Oxfordshire to the dawning of modern age technology in Victorian
Britain. Over the years, viewers have flooded the series with
queries as to what happened after Time Team finished their three-day investigations – were the sites further
excavated, were finds available to see in museums and how did
local people react to finding an important archaeological find
on their doorstep (and, in some cases, literally in their back
garden!)?
For the first time, the Team returns to a few key sites for updated
reports and the Team members also remember their favourite moments
and finds.
The programme starts at Much Wenlock in Shropshire looking for
evidence of Norman buildings. In 1993, after the slight problem
of digging in the wrong place, they had found the remains they'd
always suspected existed. Now they return to meet local archaeologist
Mark Horton to look at subsequent excavations and what these have
told the local community about the history of their town.
From Winterbourne in Wiltshire comes the update of the story of
the landowner who, developing his bungalow, came across what looked
like Saxon graves. Time Team's arrival led to further discoveries, including a rare Saxon
pond barrow, one of just 61 in the country and now listed.
On a wider scale, there's a return to Hylton, near Sunderland
where the locals wanted to make the remaining gateway to a medieval
castle a focal point of the surrounding parkland. The park is
now open and incorporates some of the landscape features that
the Team found.
Finally, the whole crew is given a chance to choose their favourite
find from over the years. Tony's is the gorgeous enamelled badge
found on the Time Team Live dig in August, which, after cleaning, revealed a message over
1,500 years old that is still pertinent today – and especially
at this time of year!
Back to the Time Team Past programmes page
Back to the 1998 series page
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