Selecting a Site
During the pre-production process the research team will consider several hundred possible sites for the series. These sites come from a number of sources, including letters and emails from Time Team viewers. Buck Mill was one such site, suggested to us by Stephanie Fry. Stephanie and her husband had bought some new grazing land for their horses and had needed to clear overgrown areas of the site. This work had revealed some mysterious stone ruins which had intrigued Stephanie. All this was contained in a letter with some photographs to whet our appetite.
With the letter and images Buck Mill became part of the long list of thirty or so sites which needed to be narrowed down to form a good mix of possible locations for the series. As soon as we discussed the site with Mick Aston Buck Mill moved up the list! Of particular interest to our resident Professor Aston, mill sites were vital to early medieval economies and may well have continued in use for centuries. Time for a site visit.
On a bright but wet day in January members of the research team met with Professor Aston and Stephanie Fry at the site of Buck Mill, not too far from Mick's home. With our Wellington boots on we followed Stephanie to the mill ruins. This is where things began to get interesting. It was clear, even from an initial inspection that the ruins Stephanie had described were not medieval but perhaps 19th century, and quite substantial.
As we explored the wider landscape it became clear that we were dealing with a complex water management system that would have provided a good deal of power. Mick started clambering over fences and disappearing over hedges with a member of the production team in hot pursuit. It soon became clear that the site had a few surprises for us. Mills were constructed close to a water source, often requiring the construction of a 'leat' - an artificial channel designed to direct a water source to a Mill wheel. The leat constructed for the ruins we had already seen was obvious. However, Mick now thought he'd found a second channel. Could this mean there had been more than one mill on the site?
Mick certainly thought this likely as he began following the leat through the fields with growing excitement. Finally we converged on a small raised platform. Mick was now convinced that this could well be the site of a very early mill indeed - perhaps dating to before the Norman conquest. A rather bemused Stephanie suggested we might like to get out of the cold and have a cup of tea. Dragging Mick away from his discovery we sat down to talk practicalities and logistics.
However, Stephanie had more to show us including her own excellent research and a box of finds from the site. These included pottery from a number of different periods whilst the maps included a drawing of the mill during the 18th century. This was all we needed to make a decision - Buck Mill would be one of our excavation sites for the series and a certain Professor couldn't wait to get started.
