Archaeologist Ben Robinson discovers the story of the monks and villagers of the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, off the Northumberland coast.\n\nOur coastal villages are often seen as remote places for retreat and relaxation. However, they have often been on the front line of history - from the arrival of Christianity to battles with neighbours and nature; from slave trading to the birth of modern tourism.\n\nFrom Holy Island, monks spread Christianity to the rest of Northern England and created one of Britain’s finest treasures – the Lindisfarne Gospels. Viking attacks caused the monks to flee but the village survived. Today the community has to share their village with thousands of tourists.\n
Source: BBC 2
Series 5: 5. Bucklers Hard
In Hampshire, archaeologist Ben Robinson investigates how a tiny village, originally meant to be a free port to process sugar, became a bustling naval shipyard.\n\nBen learns th ...
10-06-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: Laxey
Situated on the eastern coast of the Isle of Man, the village of Laxey is known today as a tourist destination, but as archaeologist Ben Robinson finds out, it wasn’t the ...
06-06-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: Parkgate
Archaeologist Ben Robinson explores Parkgate, on the estuary of the River Dee in Cheshire. Today the village is landlocked, cut off from the Dee and the Irish Sea due to the est ...
05-06-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: Orford
Lying off the North Sea is the unassuming Suffolk village of Orford. It’s behind a large shingle spit called Orford Ness. But as archaeologist Ben Robinson unearths, it&rs ...
04-06-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: Craster
Archaeologist Ben Robinson visits a small village in Northumberland to find out how the family and village who both share the name Craster have had their lives and fortunes inte ...
03-06-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: Tintagel
Archaeologist Ben Robinson uncovers the secrets of Cornwall’s Tintagel, famed as the legendary birthplace of King Arthur. Ben discovers Tintagel was potentially more impor ...
02-06-2025
BBC 2
Series 5: 4. St Agnes
Ben Robinson investigates how a Cornish gem became world-famous for tin. In the bay, the archaeologist unravels the epic story behind the hundreds of huge carved stones that lie ...
30-05-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: Cley Next The Sea
Archaeologist Ben Robinson visits the Norfolk village of Cley next the Sea and discovers that due to Dutch settlers in the Elizabethan era, it's not as ‘next the sea&rsquo ...
29-05-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: Flamborough
Archaeologist, Ben Robinson visits the east coast village of Flamborough which sits on a rugged headland sticking out into the North Sea. A largely unassuming village today, it ...
28-05-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: Gorey
Sitting on the east coast of Jersey, and about 14 miles from the coast of Normandy, the small village of Gorey was, for hundreds of years the\nfrontline of defence between the B ...
27-05-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: Cley Next The Sea
Archaeologist Ben Robinson visits the Norfolk village of Cley next the Sea and discovers that due to Dutch settlers in the Elizabethan era, it's not as ‘next the sea&rsquo ...
29-05-2025
BBC 2
Series 5: 5. Bucklers Hard
In Hampshire, archaeologist Ben Robinson investigates how a tiny village, originally meant to be a free port to process sugar, became a bustling naval shipyard.\n\nBen learns th ...
10-06-2025
BBC 2
Series 2: 1. Alnmouth
Archaeologist Ben Robinson visits Alnmouth on England’s north east coast and discovers the village’s historical role in feeding the nation.
22-05-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: Flamborough
Archaeologist, Ben Robinson visits the east coast village of Flamborough which sits on a rugged headland sticking out into the North Sea. A largely unassuming village today, it ...
28-05-2025
BBC 2
Robin Hood's Bay
Archaeologist Ben Robinson reveals the story of smuggling intrigue and bravery on the Yorkshire coast.
20-05-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: Ravenglass
Archaeologist Ben Robinson takes us to the quiet village of Ravenglass, tucked away on the edge of the Lake District’s National Park, where he finds out about its strategi ...
26-05-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: Craster
Archaeologist Ben Robinson visits a small village in Northumberland to find out how the family and village who both share the name Craster have had their lives and fortunes inte ...
03-06-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: Botallack
The small hamlet of Botallack was once at the centre of the Cornish tin and copper mining industry as archaeologist Ben Robinson discovers. By 1861, Botallack’s mine was o ...
23-05-2025
BBC 2
Series 2: 2. Staithes
Archaeologist Ben Robinson visits the village of Staithes in North Yorkshire and unearths its role in kickstarting the chemical industry in the north east of England.
18-03-2025
BBC 2
Series 4: 5. Solva
Ben Robinson discovers the impressive lime kilns in Solva, Wales. This picturesque 19th-century port is famous for producing quicklime, a vital ingredient in both agriculture an ...
04-02-2025
BBC 2