Close to Sedgefield, there’s an entire Roman town waiting to be unearthed, and it’s unlike any other Roman town in the region.
So far, all the evidence shows that people lived here between AD 100 – 300, and we can clearly see that they built a large ditch surrounding an area close to the original road.
But while most Roman towns are associated with military activity, this one doesn’t seem to have a fort, and none of it is built in stone. So why is it here? What attracted its founders to this location? And who were the inhabitants?
First discovered by Time Team in 2003 (Season 10, Episode 12), the town has continued to present archaeologists with an interesting puzzle.
Durham County Council Archaeology Section and Durham University jointly organised four summer seasons of excavation between 2005-2008 in a concerted effort to reveal new details about the settlement, but there’s still plenty more to be discovered!
On behalf of Discover Brightwater, we’ve now re-opened the investigation to find out more about who built this town, and why.
Explore the Timeline and Dig Records to see what’s been found, or visit Team to see all the friendly faces responsible for making the discoveries!
