River Hunters swim in

A Lochaber river is to feature on a major television channel as a hunt unfolds for evidence of the 1645 Battle of Inverlochy.

The River Hunters are back and swimming into history across Britain to search the rivers and waterways of the UK’s most important archaeological sites.

In episode three of the sixpart series river detectorist Beau Ouimette, TV presenter Rick Edwards and underwater archaeologist Gary Bankhead return to Scotland, this time to examine the River Lochy which was the scene of rival Scottish clans battling during the 17th-century civil war.

Beau discovers a fragment of a boiler door thought to originate from a boat that Queen Victoria is believed to have travelled on during her journey through the Scottish Highlands. The

Beau Ouimette under water searching the River Lochy for historical ‘treasures’.

team also discover a sword tip likely to date from the 1645 clash of the Royalists against Covenanters. The River Hunters go in search of evidence of the clashing

Scottish clans embroiled in the civil war that raged across the British Isles in the 17th century. Fights erupted during this period between the Royalists supporting the King and the Covenanters wanting more power for church and state.

Starting on the River Lochy, situated in the shadow of Ben Nevis, the group hunts for evidence of the 1645 battle – a pivotal fight that saw the Royalist army launch a surprise attack against the ill-prepared Covenanters.

Following one of the victorious Royalist clans’ route home, the team travel to the River Arkaig, ancestral home to the mighty Clan Cameron, where they pull up finds showcasing Highland life through the centuries and potential battle relics from the civil war. The hunt is dramatically cut short, however, when a military find with explosive potential is uncovered.

The River Hunters are swimming in history exclusively on Sky HISTORY, with the third episode premiering on

Clockwise from above: Gary Bankhead holding the door from a steam boat boiler, the same boat a young Queen Victoria used on her tour of the Highlands; Gary finding a medieval horse shoe dating to the 15th/16th century; TV presenter Rick Edwards; Dr Andrew Lind, historian of the British Civil Wars in Scotland (1638-1651); a canon axil, late 1800s; part of a wagon wheel dating back to the early 1900s; and below, a Second World War scabbard; inset, a live Mills Bomb (hand grenade).

Monday April 19, at 9pm.

Rick, Beau and Gary seek to unearth treasures from the rivers which have borne witness to some of the most turbulent periods in history. Using state-of-the-art underwater technology, live drone footage and accounts from the period, Beau and Rick perform the first underwater archeological digs in some of the most exciting and iconic historical sites

Britain, often in dangerous and fast-flowing waters. To further their search, they will be joined by local archaeologists, metal detectorists and historians in each episode, some of whom have waited years for this unique opportunity to search these historic sites.

The returning series offers a new perspective on each river’s layered past and could redefine British history as it is known. in