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 strategic importance to the Roman empire.

Ben explores the village and its surrounding area to uncover the remarkable evidence of its Roman past: unearthing Roman pottery, locating the earthworks of its fort and marvelling at one the best surviving examples of a Roman military bathhouse anywhere in Britain.

He meets with Roman expert, Dr Mai Musie who explains how the garrison at Ravenglass would have attracted a civilian population to the area and how some of the Roman soldiers wouldn’t have returned to Rome after the fall of the empire, deciding to make Ravenglass their home. Even today artefacts from their occupation are still being uncovered.

With the help of the Pennington family, whose ancestral home is Muncaster Castle, Ben is shown their latest Roman find, a unique stone slab with a Latin inscription that’s been attributed to a Roman naval unit, Aelia Classica. But this priceless treasure was almost thrown away in a skip before being rescued by the Penningtons.