Once in a while Time Team gets asked to investigate a site which is far too intriguing to turn down. Castor, home to a mysterious Roman building complex, was just such a site. Investigation of the enormous 'Praetorium' waiting for us at Castor relied on bringing together the work of antiquarians and archaeologists who had excavated the site over centuries. We were also lucky enough to be working with Stephen Upex, an expert on Romans in this part of UK and a scholar with somewhat of an obsession with Castor! Stephen has spent years drawing together all known references to Roman Castor allowing him to draw up a hypothetical plan of the Roman structures under the village. This extensive research allowed the production team to identify possible research questions and areas in which to dig that may answer them. Stephen was thrilled that Time Team were able to test his theories.
With a plan of attack prepared there remained one issue to address - the fact that our site lay under a busy village and its church and was partially protected as a scheduled ancient monument, Oh, and partially under a cemetery? Well, we like a challenge here at Time Team - formal discussion with multiple landowners and agencies on whose land we would needed to work soon began. Luckily, all involved were positive and supportive. There were areas within the cemetery that had not yet been consecrated - these could be surveyed and excavated. A tempting back garden was selected and agreed and parts of the school playground earmarked for investigation.
For every Time Team excavation a detailed Project Design is prepared in consultation with landowners and agencies. These documents are prepared so that everyone involved in the excavation has a clear statement of the background to the project, the research questions we wish to answer and how we intend to undertake the work. In this case the site required two distinct Project Designs - one covering those areas of the site falling under the auspices of English Heritage and another for the areas of Church land we wished to investigate. These had to be approved by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, The Diocese of Peterborough, the School governors and local landowners. Following a lengthy consultation process the Project Designs were approved - we were ready to begin work.
Over the three days representatives from all agencies involved were present on site, helping the team with advice and guidance and ensuring that we were able to get the best possible results within the time allowed without compromising the potential for future work at the site. Castor certainly put the 'team' in Time Team.
