Students and volunteers digging at Ribchester

A Roman settlement near Preston has been featured on a BBC4 programme.

Ribchester’s archaeological dig has been ongoing by students at the University of Central Lancashire and they found themselves on Digging for Britain.

A trench measuring 30 metres by 10 metres inside the North Gate is thought to be where the barracks was located.

Working with Historic England and the Ribchester Museum the students have been excavating the site.

The main trench where the barracks may have been located

Dr Duncan Sayer, senior archaeology lecturer at UCLan, said: “The long-term project goals are to explore the interior stratigraphy of a Roman military fort from latest to the earliest phase. Last year’s finds included a clay floored building with evidence of use as a workshop in the form of a hearth, kiln fragments, slag, and waste from glass working.

“The walls of this building had been pulled down leaving fragments of wall plaster across the via Sagularis, an interior road which circumnavigates the interior of the fort, as well as the Via Principals, the central road leading to the centre of the fort. This demolition across two important roadways points to deliberate destruction, but importantly not to abandonment.

“Perhaps Ribchester was not entirely abandoned in the fourth century, instead its internal space changed, the roads became less vital, the barracks had already become workshops which were subsequently pulled down to provide the footings for open spaces and temporary markets. As a result Ribchester can be added to the growing body of evidence for the changing use and composition of fourth century forts.”

Did you see the dig? Have you been taking part in it? Let us know in the comments below