This shoot was full of surprises, the biggest of which was the location of the villa! Instead of being in the easily accessible field it was under the houses of Anvil Avenue - making these three days a big challenge for the production team.
By 4pm on Day One we realised that the entire focus of the dig was going to shift into the villagers' back gardens. Fortunately we had contacted all residents in advance explaining that there was a "possibility that part of the building may run under your land." It now seemed that the whole villa was going to be there. Thankfully everyone gave us access to their gardens and Team members were on site spray painting trench locations onto lawns until after sunset.
Our second big surprise came at the end of Day Three. Tony planned to explain the history of Roman Litlington to a tour representing the village; what we hadn't quite expected was the amount of interest this would generate! Word got out and by 3pm we had over one hundred people gathered round the trenches.
Litlington was suggested as a possible Time Team site by Julian Evan-Hart, a local metal detectorist. It sounded very intriguing so we contacted the landowners to see if they would be interested. They revealed that their son had also written in suggesting the villa when he was 8... 10 years ago! So just because we don't get back to you immediately... don't give up hope.
