Secrets from sands of time
TV PICK OF THE WEEK
Villages by the Sea
Archaeologist Ben Robinson returns to the English coast in this second series. He reveals how some of our best-loved villages played a vital part in significant moments of our nation’s history.
Accompanied by local experts, Robinson uses clues from buildings, artefacts and the landscape to unravel why the village is there, and how its fortunes changed.
He begins his journey in Bamburgh on the coast of Northumberland and then travels to Staithes in North Yorkshire, Thorpeness in Suffolk, Charlestown in Cornwall, Arnside in Cumbria, and finally Alnmouth in Northumberland.
Along the way Robinson uncovers archaeological gems and surprising stories. There’s a village which flourished thanks to the collection of human urine and the discovery of a well that could have been connected to a saint. He visits the UK’s first purpose-built seaside village and the perfectly preserved Georgian port at the forefront of developments in engineering.
In this opening episode, the archaeologist visits the Northumberland coast to uncover how the health and fortune of the village was shaped by those in charge of Bamburgh’s famous castle, from early English kings to 18th century philanthropists. Amazingly this small village pioneered a welfare system nearly 200 years before one existed nationally.
We find out that from an infirmary uncommon for a rural parish of the time, and its experimental medical treatments, to food supplies for the poor, Bamburgh led the way in social welfare.