St Wilfrid’s churchyard in Ribchester is one place due to be excavated Pic: Mike Craig

Roman remains near Preston are to be excavated once more for further understanding about their role in the Roman Empire.

Ribchester is nestled in the Lancashire countryside in what was a key route between Manchester and Hadrian’s Wall.

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The University of Central Lancashire is leading a project with Historic England and Ribchester Museum to focus on excavating the monument, churchyard and existing historic houses. These are areas considered “at risk” by Historic England.

Dr Duncan Sayer, senior archaeology lecturer at UCLan, said: “Ribchester is a relatively unexplored area of historical interest and we want to make people aware of its significance. It’s a very exciting project for our students to get involved in and they will not only be looking for Roman relics but also for evidence of the early medieval settlers who followed the Romans so it’s an important dating exercise.

“The archaeology degree courses at UCLan offer more fieldwork than any other university and this Ribchester dig is a great example of the real life hands-on projects they get involved with.”

Ribchester is to be excavated by UCLan students

Students from UCLan are to work in two trenches 20 metres by 15 metres in diameter and will dig to collect artefacts, such as pottery and ancient coins, and log data about the site.

The dig could last for up to three years depending on what is discovered.

A temporary exhibition is to be held in the Ribchester Museum to display what has been found.

The training excavation is expected to start from 6 July and run until 2 August.

A Facebook page called Ribchester Revisited has been set up to allow those interested to follow the dig’s progress.

What do you think about the excavation? Have you been to Ribchester? Let us know in the comments below