Vikings buried on a golf course The first new dig site

BELOW PAR Burial site excavated on golf course

DISCOVERIES Owner Martin Fiennes

“We had been invited to the Isle of Man by a local archaeologist,” Tim says. “Next to the 13th tee was a pile of Celtic stones.

“You could look across the sea to Ireland and we began to excavate it. As we peeled the stones back we found burials. There was a Viking woman and you could see the remains of her hair in a plait something had preserved her hair.

“One of my diggers Matt Williams brushed off some stones and there was some Viking writing and it said something like ‘20 Vikings cornered here’. You suddenly feel like you are with a group of people from the Viking period.”

The villa is located on the Broughton Estate in Oxfordshire. It was discovered by historian and metal detectorist Keith Westcott after years of research and could be one of the biggest villas uncovered in recent times.

And the Time Team are excited to use new technology that was not available in previous digs to try to bring even more history to life.

Tim says: “The Broughton villa promises to be one of the finest examples in Britain.

“There may be mosaics, a bathhouse and perhaps even temples. Our investigation of the villa and the landscape it occupies will aim to preserve and enrich our understanding of the past and the people who inhabited it.

“But, as always with Time Team, the adventure is in the discovery of the secrets of the past, whatever they are.”