The Roman Bath House Buried In The Weeds | Time Team | Timeline

Next to the beautifully manicured lawns of Whitestaunton Manor in the Blackdown Hills of Somerset lies a patch of muddy weeds. Coins and pottery have been found here, and it is supposedly the site of a Roman villa. Gradually the plan of a Roman bath house emerges.
It's like Netflix for history... Sign up to History Hit, the world's best history documentary service and get 50% off using the code 'TIMELINE' bit.ly/3a7ambu
You can find more from us on:
/ timelinewh
/ timelinewh
This channel is part of the History Hit Network. Any queries, please contact [e-mail]

[@TimelineChannel]

"It's like Netflix, but for history documentaries" -----> Sign up to History Hit with code 'timeline' for a huge discount! bit.ly/3rs2w3k

[@Sean2002FU]

Why would you limit the amount of excavation?? What good does that do anyone?? If done professionally, why such limits?? More retarded big government regulations...what a joke!

[@Electronic424]

@@Sean2002FU It's because technology improves and future excavations become better than better, if you excavate everything now you will have tainted future discovery. This is why it must be gradual and not all done at once.

[@Electronic424]

@@Sean2002FU Also please watch your language.

[@OolongTGuy]

I like how Tony brought up a letter that connected Mick to this site many years prior. Half the fun of this show is the interaction between the team members.

[@mercedes523]

This was a great dig. I’ve always been in awe of the Roman’s ingenuity especially with heating their flooring. Genius!

[@lorrainearmstrong7587]

LOL I would like to have a heated floor RIGHT NOW!! Rather chilly on the feet at the moment

[@caincha]

Haven't got half-way yet but decided to take a moment to say how encouraging it must be for students if they know there is a chance they would be taken seriously enough to get this done! Awesome!

[@bethbartlett5692]

I too consider that. She must have felt the splendor of success after this dig.

[@eddiesroom1868]

Fascinating

[@mnichols1979]

I would love to just follow Stewart around and pick his brain. That man has found more things just looking at the landscape than John and his fancy geophysics gear. Lol

[@elizabethshaw734]

I would want to do that with Phil who I have a crush on! When I lived in the UK he lived in my area and I never looked him up. I was too nervous. Joe cocker lived on my street and I spoke to him sting lived in the area as well and I spoke to him but I couldn't go find Phil dammit!

[@AnaComesonotante]

I couldn't agree more! To me he's a magician, I can't even read the tube map. :)

[@bethbartlett5692]

Oh, I would as well. ✔

[@eddiesroom1868]

I feel that way about Ruth

[@eddiesroom1868]

@@elizabethshaw734 geeeeet iiiiiiiiitttttt

[@chrisphilhower6029]

Freya is young. Must be nerve racking to have the Time Team Crew there with her? She handles herself remarkably well

[@mrbrianc]

The new owner has a wonderful perspective on the property

[@Justforfun-wq7mr]

Mick is pure gold!

[@lenledwidge5367]

As I watch these guys playing in the dirt it dawns on me, every person living in England who has hump, a mini hill will be out there digging to their hearts content, I would.

[@jfc213]

wow will miss him xx

[@jorgenfrinell5369]

Well, the Roman villa could be under the present Manor. Funny to see them sitting saying no signs of a roman villa, while the Manor is in view.

[@tballstaedt7807]

A location favorable for a house wouldn't change much in 2000 years. Your assertion is the likely answer

[@jacquelinegibson7420]

What a wonderful circle of life...the new and old archeologists working together and the "invader" I loved this!

[@lenledwidge5367]

I dear say, this young man paid his dues, Education, and now it pays off. A wonderful career ahead of him.

[@epicureanbard]

The best thing about all of this is that as soon as I heard that the original archeological dig was done by the Victorians, I immediately thought "Oh no, what did they make up this time?" Turns out, quite a lot. It also seems like dramatic irony that the r5estrictions they are working under were put into place 28 years ago by one of the archeologists on the team.

[@nevillemignot1681]

I just love watching this show when Mick is the site boss, he never is rushed into anything by the 'experts' opinions or wishes, he almost all of the time mulls in over in his brain, thinks about it, THEN makes an informed choice where to put a trench.

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

Mick was an 'expert'.

[@nevillemignot1681]

And also a fine human......@@AnnaAnna-uc2ff

[@martinemjt]

What is incredible is the heated floor technology was not brought into the homes and if it was surprising it was not kept after the romans!

[@goldilox369]

Seriously! It's more efficient, economical and from what I hear, friendlier to environment. The modern day equivalent is radiant concrete floor heating.

[@whosaidthat4299]

So the Romans leave and it doesn't occur to the Brits to continue using the technology that they had??

[@lauralake7430]

I would love to have heated floors

[@shizukaakatatsu22]

More incredible is the fact that the romans had working toilets with water streams washing away the waste. Guess what people had in medieval times? Pits in the ground and with a bit of luck they had a wooden seat on top of it. The loss of hygiene and thus increased breeding ground for diseases has influenced history much more than the loss of floor heating...

[@wendywhite2642]

As I watched Time Team build that Roman hippocaust, or heated floor, this illuminated so many references from so many other episodes! 🤯 I'm only at 29 minutes in this episode, but my bet is that the Romans created a small sauna and diverted the stream by it to form a cool pool or just get your feet wet pool to cool off as a contrast with the heated room. The other rooms are dressing rooms maybe :-) they located it by the stream to clean the plunge pool. The main house is probably under the site where the current home is, up on the promontory.

[@dieterdeleeuw4436]

Timeline Channel allowing 40 minute adds to run constantly. see ya !

[@dragonmaid1360]

That sweet lass is so young yet so determined. Love it

[@alisterx8698]

23:00 this artist needs more Attention for his work…beautiful.

[@MattMajcan]

oh wow, i just asked for more older history like romans and now you delivered. i know its probably not because of my comment but appreciate it nonetheless.

[@yvonneemmert904]

Rebuild the Roman pool and swim in it!!! 🌦️💙🌊💧⛲🏞️🌅🌳

[@89ludeawakening1]

It makes perfect sense to protect ancient monuments, but what doesn't make any sense at all is the limit on square meters for trench sizes. With archeology teams like this, it shouldn't matter how much is excavated because it's returned to the same condition it was in before digging, if not better than when they started. This is especially true when the archeologists are the ones approached about excavating a site. I know I'd personally want as much discovered as possible.

[@dawnmariemay8324]

The powers that shouldn’t be are nuts as proven time and time again and thieves as also proven time and time again

[@dawnmariemay8324]

All the original stones of Stonehenge are stored someplace they no longer are at Stonehenge they were far to powerful for us serfs to have access to

[@JohnE9999]

It's because every dig is a non-repeatable experiment, and the want to save parts for future digs with better methods.

[@89ludeawakening1]

@@JohnE9999 it doesn't need to be repeatable, once they leave after things, local archeologists could take over. And use better methods? You literally just dig it. Haha And they were already using geophysics, radar and GPS to map topography of the areas at this time. How much better of methods do you want, all out 4D X-ray vision through the ground? Lol

[@BirdWhisperer46]

@@89ludeawakening1 Why not, all they had a hundred years ago were shovels and trowels?

[@estevaocunha5302]

Wonderful programme, the more I see it the more I want to see it. I'm addicted... And best of all, it didn't rain 😅

[@ronrozen2105]

Baldrick is dug in the trenches again! Glad to see you Tony :)

[@edwardseymour4930]

“battle of the bog”... wonderful!

[@HisWorldHerHeart3531]

Very informative and interesting heating the floor!!! That's cool AF

[@juliechi6166]

How did I miss this Time Team??? I thought I had see all of them!

[@MissLachine]

I absolutely Love Documentaries ~💜🌟

[@joer8854]

It would be fascinating for them to build a reproduction of the bath house on the land where they know there's no archaeology. I know they don't have the information to get it perfect but something as close as possible would be amazing. They could even let people pay to visit and use the bath house. Might want to hide a skimmer at one end to not have the totally "authentic" experience of the really nasty water though.

[@red.5475]

Phil Harding sounds like an ancient sea pirate. 😂

[@annazaman9657]

David Neal. One of my favorites.

[@alantorrance6153]

The Roman Villa could well be under the present Manor House (or where the present Manor House has been built)..

[@maximiliand2544]

My thoughts exactly.

[@danielking3300]

@Jason Nice..

[@Littlegoatpaws]

Not at all unlikely, a get a strong sense it might be there, or under the church and graveyard. A lot of very old properties in Britain and elsewhere are right next to or even on top of even older Roman era properties, passed on and passed on in a line of ownership so far back records and recall have been lost. The house has been there in some form for around 800 years, probably part of an even older estate that not just the house but even the little community around it could be associated with, the whole village might even be the vestige of a long lost Roman town. Of course, you can't exactly dig up a house that is ancient and historical in its own right. But there's lot of things that can be done to figure out if older things lie under and right around it, it costs more and takes more than three days to do though.

[@0hMyLife]

I like these videos, but I really REALLY hate that they always only have 3 friggin days!!! That's not true archeology.... I at least wish they'd do follow up videos on sites that they essentially abandoned in the infancy of their digs!!! Tell us what was found and uncovered since they left the site, and then go into what they're working on currently, or showing the finished collection if the site has been fully excavated. I'd sit down and spend DAYSSSSS watching those videos!!!! I love seeing this stuff!!! A window into the past! One shovel full at a time!!!!

[@cinnamontea7671]

I believe the rationalisation for that is that a lot of recent archeological discoveries are made during building works, and when that happens, archaeologists usually have very limited time to investigate, to avoid putting the building schedule behind.

[@MsRedsphere]

@KareBear 4789 It is frustrating. Why 3 days? Money? Regulations like the amount of square footage for the dig? If so why? Do they restore the areas once dug? I would like follow up and explanations videos.

[@stiannobelisto573]

All Time Team digs have field reports, many are available as pdf

[@0hMyLife]

@@stiannobelisto573 But, wouldn't the field report be just about what THEY found while they were there filming?? I wanna know what happened after the film crews left!!! If they continued digging, if not...well, really nothing more to find out!! Lol

[@ohppig1]

There are two things going on. First, for a TV production three days gives a predictable time and cost budget for the show. The did do some specials where they took more time. Second, there is just so much archaeology in Britain. No matter how exciting Tony makes it sound, of all the shows I've sampled over the past couple of months I've googled only two that had any substantial followup. The broch in Scotland next to the caravan park (RV campground) and I think it was The Abby in the Back Garden where new owners were willing to let archeologists in. Time Team did the survey, which was followed up by the Suffolk County Archaeological Service.

[@dianaadhikari45]

Dig in the basement of the manor house

[@celticlass8573]

It's probably Listed.

[@escherichanja8522]

Thanks for sharing.

[@wendywhite2642]

This is comfort tv 😁

[@andredeketeleastutecomplex]

I could use some 'weeds' right now 🙈

[@PlayNiceFolks]

I went straight edge a little while ago. Not morally, bit legally. For legal reasons. And I am in a US state literally surrounded by legal even rec legal weed States. I am introvert poor class, I'm not traveling three plus hours for it. But, still. Ahhhh.

[@dogwater290]

@@PlayNiceFolks smoke man even if its illegal in ur state thats just for now

[@andisayso]

These documentaries are the best watched baked 😉 love from Canada lol

[@amira_the_lynx]

I really can't wait to travel again I've been meaning to go to Ireland with my boyfriend

[@earan9902]

Hope you tow Don't get covid during to travel. 💙

[@amira_the_lynx]

@@earan9902 two* I just can't wait for this damm pandemic to be over

[@bethbartlett5692]

Ireland is #1 on my "Must do list". My lineage is from Counties Kerry and Cork. I'm 3rd generation from Kerry and my G-Grandfather X 6 is from Cork. He founded Lynchburg, Virginia (that's 8 generations ago and takes us back to appx 1767, per Revolutionary War). There's several others that make up my Ancestry, Mother was 100% Irish (which is of Basque Orgin) and Dad was 1/2 Irish, (Murphy, Sullivan, Lynch, and Cole) I just want to rent a place close to or by the Coast, take my oils, brushes, and Canvas, and spend at least a year painting and writing. I am actually considering a relocation to Ireland. I've never been, so an extended stay is a must. To imagine returning as a "Daughter of Ireland" after so many generations makes me emotional. You have a fabulous visit and be blessed with Abundant Positive Energies 💫 and Best Wellbeing. Beth (Mary Beth) Tennessee, USA 🍀

[@XlrationMedia]

Tony's reaction at 35:35 sums this site up.

[@jonnywatts2970]

It's protected so you must leave it burried to crumble away. What kind of bolocks is that?

[@MissLachine]

Wow the Manor House is absolutely Beautiful as well as the Lovely Grounds 💜🌟🌟

[@johnrogan9420]

Victorians let it get covered with vegetation after excavating the site????

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

Thank you.

[@Psychlist1972]

"limited digging" Looks like they dug the whole thing.

[@private15]

Exactly! Way more than 10%. Did they get the rules changed because it isn’t a Roman villa?????.

[@AnaComesonotante]

@@private15 once Mick said that if they reopen an old trench, that doesn't count in percentage of their dig.

[@andisayso]

Rome would definitely be my first if I get to travel to EU. So much history and nostalgia

[@tonvanderzalm4612]

We've been and it's so worth it 😊👍 There is so much history to see in Rome 👍 Really great 👍💕💕

[@andisayso]

@@tonvanderzalm4612 ugh. I wish. These documentaries and some books would suffice for now til this thing’s over lol

[@russprather8021]

My cousin who is the family historian was taking a photo of my grandfathers hotel he built that has a thatch roof was standing on a roman mosaic that a farmer opened up when he was plowing his field across from the hotel

[@earthcat]

I feel a need to enquire after our Carenza...pray she is well. I am still desperately in love with Phil 🥰

[@Exodus26.13Pi]

Get to it already.

[@lael3227]

Is it just me or does Dr. Jonathan Foyle bear a striking resemblance to Ewan McGregor?

[@eucliduschaumeau8813]

Imagine what they would find if they had SIX days to find out...

[@pvuor]

He never says, "fortunately, we have a whole three days to find out".

[@claudettedelphis6476]

Great presentation 🍀 Thank you for sharing this with us 🌹🌼

[@Jarlemoore1]

The villa is probably directly under the Manor.

[@jamespepper8671]

I am at 31:37 and these people are looking for a villa. "Look Behind You!"

[@cynthiadonahey9989]

You can cut out a polyurethane foam cushion with a steak knife to make a trough. it can be carved. and then fill it with soil, especially soil from particular sites like this. top soil, sub soil whatever one chooses. Supposedly there was a folly in Great Britain. The Original owner purchased with great expense limestones formations from Hilliard Ohio quarries. After his death, his family had them knocked down and pushed into the bushes.

[@IratePuffin]

“We can only dig up 10% of the site.” 🧐

[@pfrstreetgang7511]

Can anyone help me understand why there seems to be so many sites that are listed or scheduled that aren't revisited? It seems like time team has made a career of going back to sites that appeared to be potentially serious finds that never get looked at again.

[@wynwilliams6977]

severe lack of funding

[@ereynoldful3974]

God I love this show

[@kevincarrigan6348]

Phil's become a happy mud monger ! @ 35:25

[@raymondjayjohnson693]

I find it interesting that, repeatedly, Victorian ruins are treated like an on trailer home park. I imagine the Victorians felt much the same regarding anything between Roman and their contemporary. It seems a destructive archaeology. "Oh it's just Victorian."

[@ATAATX]

Only because they have boatloads of data and sites and artifacts on the Victorian era.

[@denisehall4818]

Thanks

[@Jelinek44]

..just wow🤔😊😊💪

[@jmeyer4266]

It makes no sense to me that the preservation is to let it degrade, Clean the whole site up and then it can be preserved.

[@fernalicious]

Seems a missed opportunity to not have them excavate the whole site.

[@soapyjay5764]

Could the villa be under the house? I mean that seems like a good spot..

[@barrydysert2974]

The best things always are!:-/ 🖖

[@renaenolen8461]

Under the manor house

[@jenbingham0914]

Something so funny about the 3 very intelligent scientists "bickering" over whether it would be a nearby Villa, or a "facility".

[@jkardi9803]

So true, and I hated how rude the guy in the striped shirt is, interrupting and correcting his colleague like that.

[@kaylariddell007]

why didn't Frea get a trench? it was her idea

[@Ponto-zv9vf]

Man, I couldn't have coped with all that mud. Makes on e think that modern people putting in a pond has altered the water level where the bath was located.

[@jamesscott6917]

Typical that a bunch of lawyers and politicians decide what's best for an archeological examination rather than what archeologists think would be best.

[@dominicmeyers5865]

Does anybody know who's music that is I'd like to find it.

[@wendywhite2642]

Time to walk away 🤣

[@maksmaso4741]

we can dig only on 10% of site, it's protected by law: *turns whole site into muddy pit and dig everywhere* :D:D

[@maksmaso4741]

it's not enough! let's dig on owners lawn also! :D

[@philjohnson1744]

Does anyone else bet on "gotee/no gotee" before the episode starts?

[@elizabethshaw734]

Ah those wild and crazy Victorians!

[@carlderfler5006]

Yes sir Tony the fact that the existing ruin walls didn't up and "travel away" Lol travel away!!! Lol for a knight you sure are funny!!!

[@chrisbassett8996]

When the romans were so intelligent, I do have to wander why the rest of us were so slow.

[@mwj5368]

Why is it they always have only 3 days to finish major finds? I'd think if there is a bath house then there must be a villa because only the very wealthy would have such a large and extensive bathhouse. I wonder what has happened with this site if the owner said it was okay to continue now a year has almost gone by.

[@celticlass8573]

It should be easy enough to find out if more was found after this episode was filmed, since it was a number of years ago. I'd be interested to learn if they found more too, the area was most likely excavated, as it was an important find. Imagine if it were more like a complex, then just a villa and bath!

[@kevincarrigan6348]

In keeping w/ what Alan Torrance was saying, the baths may have been originally built by Romans, & 'coz the grounds around a spring, moving water, are very unstable, the whole structure needed to be restored, or at the very least given a face lift, by later denizens (20 minutes in ). Maintenance by reverent residents ?????

[@TheMrksmth]

Did that dude find that flashlight next to those tiles.

[@MoggiesTen]

"A bit dodgey". An understatement.

[@donnal.oglesby4806]

LOVED this one, where they Actually FOUND something, a Roman bath house! They Finally found something!! awesome!

[@thomashernandez8700]

Is the guy with the straggly long hair from Birmingham? Might = "moight", etc. American here.

[@targetedplantsguy9481]

Why not rebuild them? Bring it back as realistic as possible.

[@LinhieHuynhie]

5:56 Idk why I felt like I was listening to a witcher 3 cut scene

[@markgarin6355]

Northeast corner? It was in the northwest corner. Thanks for the compass

They ended up excavating one whole heck of a lot more than 10% of that site. What was all that bellyaching about how restricted they were, at the beginning? Because of our limited digging allowance, over and over again. They dug the entire site up! There was sweet FA limited about any of it. Seriously, WTH is he on about?

[@Schmorgus]

Probably started as restricted due to previous excavations. And later when new finds emerged they were allowed to dig further. That's bureaucracy for you ;)

@@Schmorgus The other thing they all kept harping about was that they only had three days to complete the project. No bureaucracy moves that fast. Certainly not in the UK! Not even close. Good try, though.

[@Schmorgus]

@ Clearly there were some legal forms that had to be signed for them to continue the excavation since they started with strict rules, doesn't matter if you didn't understand that part. I guess you're one of those trying to complain about everything. It all worked out in the end no matter what, and it was a good episode imo.

[@VisionaryGardener]

Only the scheduled area (the boggy area) is restricted. The lawns and other areas aren't included in the scheduled area, so they can dig whatever size of trenches they want outside of that.

[@artrioangelus]

Why do you only have 3 days to find out? Will you be escorted off the property if you stay into a 4th day? Will your funding be pulled? Why the urgency to make discoveries?

[@lpeterson2336]

I think that is just model and budget of the tv show.

[@celticlass8573]

Every episode of Time Team until it ended in 2014 was 3 days. Someone at Channel 4 must have decided it was just the right amount of time.

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

Series 11 Episode 2 first aired 11 January 2004

[@LittleRedSlipper]

Now after all that beauty is un earthed..... do you have to cover it up again?

[@davidgodley521]

Hi Tony!

[@cs_fl5048]

The chinese and koreans heated their wooden houses pretty much the same way

[@cynthiadonahey9989]

I can not help but wonder what plants were hauled away. hope some were salvaged.

[@wendywhite2642]

STOP implying that you Timeline people made the Time Team videos! Give credit to the folks who actually did the work! You're just re-running episodes. You curate history documentaries. Which is not a bad thing, just be honest.

[@motelluver945]

Ugh. That timeline guy at the beginning doing his advertisement is so freaking annoying.

[@amistry605]

@Kal Halson😆 lol does the UK use dimes?

[@amistry605]

@Kal Halson lmaoooo but seriously that was the first thing I noticed whenever I've watched these videos.

[@anderander5662]

Tight pants....couldn't look at his face

[@aden1466]

I just skip that part :P

[@gerhardheydrich3146]

Agreed - self advertising, annoying and pointless, I listened for about 10 seconds and then skipped him.

[@rasmokey4]

Why is everything of ancient times always under mounds of dirt??

[@sithlordhibiscus9936]

Earth and time has a way of covering up its past in layers of strata. :)

[@cg256y9]

Leaves fall and vegetation dies every year and becomes soil which builds up in layers year after year after year. Eventually anything on the ground will be underground given enough time.

[@AuLily1]

A series of cunning plans...

[@chrisbassett8996]

Mind you my son did say to me a couple of years ago, "you know mum, there are an awful lot of dumb people in the world"

[@PollyJuice]

Skip the uninteresting intro and just go straight to Time Team.

[@alovelylie]

Maybe it was a bath house for the armies? Did they do that?

[@barrydysert2974]

🖖

[@dawngriffin3550]

❤