Fertile Soils, Rich Archaeology - Wittenham Clumps, Oxfordshire

Overview

The British landscape is littered with Iron Age hill forts. A local archaeology unit is digging such a hill fort in Oxfordshire, but cannot afford to investigate a neighbouring larger hill, only 200 metres away. Both Roman and Iron Age remains have been found there in the past. But what is its relationship, if any, to the hill fort? The geophysics team identify a potential target, a square enclosure on the side of the hill. But before they can begin, they have to manually search the site for specimens of great crested newt, a rare protected species. At the beginning of day two, John's team find something which could be very special, a Roman church, apparently with a semicircular apse. They are joined by Tim Allen of Oxford Archaeology and osteoarchaeologist Angela Boyle.

Episode Information