Time Team Excavation Site Syndale

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In 43AD the Romans invaded Britain along with 40,000 men and a load of elephants all packed into a thousand ships.

They landed down the road at Ridgeborough here in Kent, but immediately after that, no one’s really sure what happened. Mainly because no Roman forts have ever been found here in South East England. That is, maybe until now. Because archaeologist, Paul Wilkinson has got a theory that this hilltop at Syndale, maybe the site of the first Roman fort ever built in Britain.

He’s invited Time Team to use their expertise and experience to test his theory and we’re gonna need every minute of our three days to do it.


Day One:
This episode sees the Team gather their resources for a three-day investigation into the possible location of a Roman Fort, one of the first ever built in Britain.
Tony begins the day by talking to the Local Archaeologist who invited the Team to investigate the site. His name is Paul Wilkinson and he explains his reasons for inviting the Team to search for a Roman Fort in Syndale. He informs us that he has previously dug trenches on the site, finding what he believes to be evidence of a Roman military ditch. It had ‘pieces of Claudian Roman pottery at the bottom of it’ says Paul.

Tony reveals a plan and checklist that the Graphics department have created for him, explaining in simplistic terms what a Roman Fort is and what they will be looking for in order to prove its existence over the three days.

He shows the plan to Paul who indicates where his trenches are on the plan and how they link up together to form a Military three-sided ditch. Tony is sceptical and says ‘Yeah, but three ditches doesn’t make a fort!’


Paul quickly realises that convincing Tony and indeed us as viewers is going to be a challenge. He defends his view by explaining that the Fort would have been in an excellent location at Syndale. “In 43AD, the Roman Army would have approached from Richborough, marching along the North Kent Coast…this could have been their first over night stop when invading this country’ says Paul.

Tony is excited and introduces the archaeologists who are going to be investigating such a potentially important site in history. We see Guy de la Bedoyere, Carenza, Neil Holbrook(Site Director) and Phil Harding who all gather around the Time Team Discovery. Guy immediately expresses his concerns at the difficulty of the task they are facing “This is a huge span of history, some 350 years and we’re going to be trying to find something which could have possibly been have used for a few days or weeks”.

Neil Holbrook, the Site Director begins to list the things they will need to find in order to prove the Fort exists, such as defensive ditches, double ditches surrounding the Fort, timber gateways, towers in each corner of the Fort and he says ‘dating is key’. The Team will need to find Samian or Claudian pottery, which will enable them to date the Fort closely. Also, fragments of Roman armour and equipment would be useful.

The Team amazingly decide to do nothing until the Geofizz team have had a chance to survey the site. They are hoping the geofizz survey will enable them to see if the three ditches that Paul found do indeed link up. If so, it will reveal the shape and form of the Fort itself.

Phil meanwhile explains to the diggers that there is liable to be some wait before they can start digging.

Tony and Neil go to talk to Stewart who has an idea of where they could start looking, in the absence of the geofizz results. He has discovered an earthwork bank, which he suspects could be part of the defences of the Roman Fort.


It had previously been thought to be part of some 18th Century gardens that once stood on the site. Stewart, however, has looked at the plans and has discovered that the earthwork is on a different alignment to the gardens. Neil is persuaded enough to allow an evaluation trench to see if the earthwork predates the gardens, and to reveal a continuation of Paul’s Roman ditch, if one exists. The ditch will need to be some twenty metres long to accomplish this. Phil and his band of diggers get started.

Meanwhile in the Incident Room, the evidence that Paul has collected through the course of his investigations is under close scrutiny by Roman Fort expert, Tony Wilmot who discusses the findings with Carenza and Paul Wilmot.

Looking at some photographs of the previously excavated ditches, Tony believes that the evidence is even more convincing than Paul had previously thought. The ditch is the correct shape and depth for a Roman Fort and the interpretation is drawn on a photograph to demonstrate it.

Tony Wilmot says ‘it’s a very good candidate’ for a Military Roman ditch.


Tony refers back to his ‘idiot’s guide’ which depicts an illustrated version of the ditches, with one steep side for attack purposes and one shallow side which leads straight in to the line of fire!

There are three different types of military ditches and it is the triangular one in the middle, which is of interest on this site.

We now see Tony standing alongside the twenty metre long ditch started earlier. He examines the finds with Malcolm Lyne whom Tony describes as ‘the experts expert’ when it comes to pottery.

Malcolm looks at a piece of pottery discovered in the trench and declares that it is ‘Belgic Grog Tempered Ware, dating from AD 20-100.

It is both handmade and wheel turned, fired black and the grog in this sense is not rum, but ground up clay and filler.’

Malcolm also examines a rim sherd that is part of a ‘bi-conical beaker’ dating from anything after the Crusades to AD 130.

Neil also comments that the mixture of dating evidence is exactly what you would expect in a ditch of this nature.


The eagerly awaited geofizz results are now ready and Tony, Neil and Stewart gather to examine them with John on site. However, there’s a problem…their first survey contains good, bad and very bad news. The good news is that geofizz can identify some clear features - but they’re modern field boundaries. The very bad news is that geofizz can’t see Paul’s ditch or any Roman ditches – John says, ‘We need to do a lot more work’.

Tony subsequently expresses his exasperation by saying ‘we’ve been waiting for two third’s of a day and we’ve got one black blob that he’s (John) not that keen we put a trench over!’ Neil declares that it’s time for ‘Plan B’ and they decide to investigate some of the items on Tony’s checklist, in the absence of useful geofizz results.

Neil and Stewart decide to investigate nearer the front of the possible Fort, along the line of Watling Street - ‘the M1 of Roman Roads’. Watling Street according to Stewart, cuts across the edge of the site and goes over the earthwork they have already been looking at, suggesting it pre-dates the major Roman road. If this is the case, it could be of great importance to their investigations.

It is clear that the Team are struggling to interpret the site without accurate geofizz results, but as Tony says ‘we have Stewart’s expertise to fall back on’. This seems to be working, as Stewart’s earlier suggestion for locating Trench One over the earthwork bank has yielded positive results. They have discovered a new, previously unknown ditch running through the trench. Dan Dodds, Field Archaeologist explains that the ditch is some 15 metres away from the one Paul found. They need to do more work to determine if it is in anyway related.

Phil meanwhile has dressed up as a member of the Ermine Street Guard for the day to see what being a Roman soldier was really like.

He experiments with authentic Roman tools, like a shovel, which Phil concludes is a ‘poor design’ as it is too flat to effectively remove the earth form the trench he is attempting to dig


He is dressed in authentic Roman Military clothing, armour and all and he quickly begins to realise how fragments of the military equipment could so easily be lost. Part of his apparel falls into the trench and we see just how these items often appear in trenches on excavation. Also, Phil’s hob nailed boots leave dents in the mud and the nails would often get stuck in the mud and fall out. It is items such as these, made of metal, that often survive in archaeological trenches and are discovered years later by enthusiastic archaeologists.

Guy meanwhile has gone to examine a coin that has just come out of Trench Two and declares that ‘the size is the key’ for dating it. On closer examination he determines that it is fourth century, some 300 years after the Roman invasion. The Team are searching for first century occupation and so have a lot more digging to do if they are going to reach the right levels in three days...

Trench One 4.45pm

Neil had originally thought that this trench would not take long, using a machine they would simply take a few layers off the top and have a look underneath. However, one end of the trench is now several metres deep and is still producing Roman pottery. Neil says that it is clear that what they are now excavating is Roman in-fill and he postulates that the 18th century gardens are responsible for the difficulties they are facing.

When the previous owners of the site were landscaping their gardens, they must have shifted large amounts of earth to create features around the garden. This has had obvious implications for the diggers on site who now have to dig down a lot deeper than had been anticipated. There is hope however, that it will all be worth it.

Malcolm examines the pottery and there is a mixture of dating evidence confirming Neil’s interpretation.

One pottery sherd dates post 70AD, another rim sherd is from ‘an inverted cooking pot from the third century’ and there is also part of ‘a carinated girth of a bi-conical’ says Malcolm, which dates between 43-130AD –some 150 years later than the Fort!


Another trench is opened at the end of Day One to chase the continuation of Paul’s ditches, and Guy reveals a coin, which could be evidence that the Fort really did exist on the site. It is a coin of Claudius, who was the fourth Emperor of Rome. He invaded Britain to demonstrate his greatness and power early in the history of the Roman Empire. Could it be that this coin was dropped by a Roman Soldier who was part of that invading army?

The coin itself is not corroded, which suggests it was dropped early in its history and it has come from near the top of the trench, which augurs well for finding earlier pottery beneath it. It is not proof incontrovertible, but it’s a step in the right direction at the end of day one! The search for the Fort will continue bright and early (and not to mention rather foggily) on Day Two.


Day Two:
Day Two, 8.45am
Tony explains that the main aims of the day is to ‘get on down’ into the trenches to find the ditches they are looking. Strangely, they cannot as yet find a continuation of Paul’s ditch running through any of the trenches they have dug so far – so where is it?

There is still no help from Geofizz who continue to survey the area and Tony informs us that ‘testing the theory that there was once a Roman Fort on this site is not a new one’. In fact, it began in the 1800’s. Carenza has been looking at historical documents and has discovered a reference to the Fort by a local Antiquarian in 1874 who writes ‘Although the Roman Camp is known by tradition, more than remains…it is still traceable around the garden and stable yard’.

Paul Wilkinson still believes that a Fort could exist on this site because he has been excavating a third to fourth century Roman Settlement just down the road, which he believes to be Durolevum. This idea is strengthened by the fact that the Roman word ‘Duro’ means fort or camp. Could this settlement have been associated with the lost Fort?

Stewart has been looking at possible shapes of Roman Forts in textbooks – ‘one of which almost looks like a cricket bat’ says Stewart.

Most are a standard playing card shape, however, Stewart continues; ‘The Roman engineers were very practical people and they may well have tailored the shape of the Fort to the landscape. So it may well be this trapezoidal shape’.


Stewart also expresses his concerns that they are concentrating their efforts too much on the West side of the site and they need to look to the East. Tony Wilmot reinforces the need to ‘demonstrate an enclosure’ of ditches.

Sadly, geofizz cannot be of any help and Stewart goes to speak to John to explain what their intentions are.

Stewart explains that they will put in another long trench based on his alignments, just as before and this ‘may allow your picture to build up as well’ says Stewart.

John is quick to respond with: ‘What? Our picture of nothing…I thought I’d say it before you did’.


It is clear that Geofizz are determined to continue surveying and have not given up hope of finding the ditches, it is also apparent that Stewart’s thirty years experience in Landscape Archaeology is indispensable on this site.

To add to the problems, the site Director, Neil Holbrook has to leave the site to attend an important meeting! Before he leaves, Tony presses him to explain why he hasn’t been able to put a tick in any of his checklist boxes for finding the Fort. Neil explains that the two coins they have found are ‘like half a tick’ because ‘they are coins that circulated around twenty years after the invasion and are associated with the Roman Army’. What the Team must do now is determine how those coins relate to the site and to the possible ditches they have already found.

Trench One, 10.00am.

The ditch discovered under the earthwork bank could now, it ‘s thought, be a military ditch as it’s both wide enough and deep enough. Dan Dodds is convinced it’s Roman and that it is also a ‘V-shaped ditch’. They now feel that the ditch Paul found could be the outer ditch, and the ditch in Trench One is the inner one. However, they can still find no continuation of Paul’s ditch in Trench one or Trench Three. Confused, they decide to re-open one of Paul’s old trenches to relocate the ditch and also enlist Henry to calculate how deep they will have to dig in order to reach it - given the level of dumping that has gone on in this site it could be anywhere!

It is not long before Paul’s old ditch is discovered and almost simultaneously Phil announces he has found the continuation of it in Trench One! Stewart looks at the alignments of the ditches and soon discovers why they didn’t find the continuation in Trench Three –the trench simply wasn’t long enough by one and a half metres!!!

Back in the Incident Room, Guy talks to Carenza about the history of the Invasion and what Historians can tell us about it. Guy amazingly reveals that very little is known about such an important event in history. ‘All we have is from a Greek Historian called Diroclassius, who was writing some 160 years after the invasion’. He does not provide any of the usual details, such as the geographical extent of the invasion, the number of troops or anything. In fact, all he does say about the invasion is ‘that they came in three waves’ says Guy. However, Carenza points out that geographically the sea would have been a lot closer to the site in Roman times than it is today. Guy agrees and suggests that as a site for Fort, it would have been crucial for controlling the trade routes by sea and road during the invasion.

Day Two, 1.00pm

Tony Wilmot declares they need to find the profile of Phil’s ditch to see how it links to Paul’s ditch and stresses that ‘he still needs some more convincing’ that there is indeed a Fort here!

Henry generates a 3D model of the Fort and how it would sit in the valley, with a stream running alongside.


Carenza, Tony Wilmot, Stewart, John and Phil gather around the Discovery in order to thrash out a way to proceed. Phil’s ditch is curving inwards we could suggest that it forms part of the entrance to the site. However, Fort entrances vary greatly in both form and shape and so a debate has ensued as to how best to solve this problem. Carenza suggests that they need to extend Phil’s trench up to five metres to determine the extent of the ditch. Phil disagrees. He says it has been too heavily landscaped, to such an extent that it would be impossible to find them.

John tentatively suggests after looking at the geofizz results, that there could be a curvilinear feature matching that of a possible entrance. Carenza is convinced, but Tony says the ‘geofizz still seems foggy to me’. Indeed, after extending Trench One they can find no evidence of an entrance, as it has been totally landscaped away. Nor can they find anymore of Paul’s ditch in Trench Three or evidence that it extends in any direction.

Meanwhile, John hears from Chris on the radio telling him they may have found a huge ditch on the Eastern part of the site. John nervously rushes in to see his own results, cautiously stating ‘we need to see it on the ground’. Chris illustrates to John and Tony where the ditch is on the ground and Chris is unable to confirm whether it goes straight through the open trench, as they haven’t surveyed that far…’it’s all getting too much for us today’ says Chris.

Tony concludes Day Two by saying ‘this is one of the most challenging sites we have ever encountered.’


Day Three:
Neil Holbrook has returned and is unconvinced that the ditch in Trench Three is Paul’s trench. Carenza has been searching for another of Paul’s ditches on the other side of the site. She has found nothing and now Neil is doubting Phil’s ditch in Trench One. He says it cannot be a Roman Military ditch as it is cutting second and third century deposits.
Phil is reluctant to start ‘chasing ditches’ as Neil has suggested, as he does not believe there is a Fort on the site.

He says ‘Are we going to spend the rest of the three days looking for something that isn’t here, or are we going to try and find out what it is?’ After much debate, the Team decide to determine what the ditches relate to, as they must be surrounding something. It is now thought that the ditches could belong to a farm or settlement and not a Fort. To add the confusion, Brigid has discovered old Roman Road coming off Watling Street in Trench Three. Any ditches would be buried far too deep beneath it to excavate any further. The Team conclude that there is no Roman Fort on this site. The news is broken to Paul who is literally lost for words!

The best use of time now would be to dig up at the top of the hill to determine what exactly those ditches surround. They excavate in the middle of the site for some more clues.

Meanwhile, Miles has discovered a Roman well on the far side of the site in Trench Two, but that’s not all. The trench has also yielded the best find of the dig – several pieces of decorated Samianware pottery, from the first century, which unbelievably stills fits together.

It was part of a bowl which has evidence of led riveting being used to repair the bowl and make it water tight.


There is also a bone pin and an octagonal silver ring. A curved roofing tile is also found which would have come off an important Roman building. The first evidence of structures on the site. The well has yielded some fantastic finds, such as a weight from a pair of weighing scales, a coin and more pottery.

It is clear that they are now talking Roman Farm and nor Fort and that is why the geofizz didn’t work.

John explains (with the use of diagrams) that the magnetics didn’t work because ‘if it was a fort, then all the rubbish and the burning would have been put into the ditches when it went out of use. Usually when we survey over such areas we would get a high response. If the ditch wasn’t a ditch, but a field boundary- there would be no rubbish and no burning and the fill that went into the ditch would have been sterile – hence no signal’.



With the Resistance survey, John explains that ‘normally the fill that goes into the ditch is water logged so when we go over we get a high signal. However, if the ditch is on a slope, all the water drains away. No signal.’

Tony asks if there are any more reasons for geofizz not working, and a tired and understandably frustrated John says, ‘how long have you got?’

Day Three, 3.30pm

There is one last chance for geofizz. They nervously suggest that a trench is put over an anomaly that Chris found yesterday. Fortunately, the mystery does not take long to resolve and after a few bucket loads it is clear what was causing the anomaly.

Phil, Chris and John gather at the side of the trench and Phil announces that ‘gravel’ was the cause of the anomaly. Chris is quick to point out ‘… it’s where we said it was going to be, Phil. That’s the main thing’. It appears that the parkland landscaping has beaten them again.

John who is tired, exasperated and defeated says ‘This is the worst geophysical site we’ve been on and we want to go home!’ As Chris and John walk with heads held low, Phil offers some compensation and jokes: ‘Don’t rush off! You could sell the aggregate rights!’


The Team concludes that the site was once that of a second to fourth century Romano British Farm, reusing ditches from the time of the invasion. Or at least that is one of the theories being put forward by the debating archaeologists at the end of the dig!

At least one thing is for certain. The Team have scotched the 150-year-old rumour that there was once a Roman Fort on this site, which means of course, that the first Roman Fort ever to be built in Britain is still out there somewhere, just waiting to be found…