Villages by the Sea

Ben Robinson reveals the story of the village of Sunderland Point on the north west coast of England. Our 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.

Archaeologist Ben Robinson discovers the surprising story of this former medieval port on the Suffolk coast. Today Walberswick is a favourite coastal retreat for writers, artists and day trippers. But for centuries the village lurched from prosperity to poverty. In medieval times it fought a bitter battle for supremacy against the neighbouring port of Dunwich and finally fell victim to politics, fire and the might of the sea.

Archaeologist Ben Robinson reveals the story of smuggling intrigue and bravery on the Yorkshire coast.

Ben Robinson discovers the story of the monks and villagers of the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, off the Northumberland coast. Our 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. From Holy Island, monks spread Christianity to the rest of Northern England and created one of Britain’s finest treasures – the Lindisfarne Gospels.

Ben Robinson reveals the story of this Devon coastal gem’s transformation from fishing village to romantic Victorian seaside resort. Thanks to a powerful and pioneering woman, Clovelly found itself at the forefront of the Victorian seaside holiday revolution. Even today cars are banned and the village is privately owned, helping to preserve it as a reminder of a bygone age.

Archaeologist Ben Robinson uncovers how the health and fortune of the village was shaped by those in charge of Bamburgh’s famous castle.

Archaeologist Ben Robinson uncovers the secrets of the Edwardian village of Thorpeness in Suffolk, the first purpose-built seaside village in the UK.

Archaeologist Ben Robinson visits Alnmouth on England’s north east coast and discovers the village’s historical role in feeding the nation.

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.

Archaeologist Ben Robinson discovers how traditional boat building shaped the beautifully preserved village of Arnside on the banks of the River Kent in Cumbria.

Archaeologist Ben Robinson visits the picturesque Georgian village of Charlestown on the south west coast of Cornwall and learns how it was shaped by the vision of one man.

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 one of the biggest in the whole of Cornwall. Ben explores the village’s mining past with archaeologist Adam Sharpe.

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.

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 frontline of defence between the British Isles and its enemy, the French. Archaeologist Ben Robinson follows the story of this small village’s history as an important military location, from the castle built in the 1200s to the experiences of the village in the second world war when occupied by Hitler’s army.

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 was once effectively cut off from the rest of the country by a five-metre-deep, two-and-a-half-mile long man-made dyke, re-enforced and fortified with local chalk. As Ben discovers when he visits two of the village's most prominent structures, chalk plays a large part in the history of Flamborough. Built from chalk in the 1350s, Flamborough castle is now in ruins, but once belonged to an influential local family called the Constables. Using modern technology, Ben will build up a picture of what their vast, fortified estate might once have looked like.

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’ as it once was. Ben finds a village green that was once a thriving port with big ships and surrounded by a thriving village. He visits the church and meets Matt Champion, an expert in medieval graffiti who has found some incredible links to past villagers. A fire in the 1600s destroyed most of the original village, and Ben uses some detective work to try and date a house believed to be one of the only survivors. An exploration of the village reveals architecture that shows the influence of Flemish immigrants, but it's not only the buildings that were influenced by the so called ‘Elizabethan strangers’.

Archaeologist Ben Robinson uncovers the secrets of Cornwall’s Tintagel, famed as the legendary birthplace of King Arthur. Ben discovers Tintagel was potentially more important than London a thousand years ago, based on recent evidence unearthed at an archaeological dig overseen by English Heritage. It was found that over 2,000 people were living here which, at the time, which would have made it the largest settlement anywhere of its kind in Britain. In a 14th century house, Ben discovers the origins of a saying that’s still in use today with the help of Joanne McGillivray of the National Trust. Joanne explains unmarried woman would sleep on a platform accessed by a ladder, which would be drawn up at night to keep the woman away from men. But if they stayed up there and never married, they would be ‘left on the shelf’.

Ben Robinson visits Culross, a stunning 17th-century village that was a major centre for Scottish coal mining and the first underwater sea coal shaft in the world.

Ben Robinson explores the remains of a lost harbour in Port Carlisle, a once-thriving port that hoped to rival Liverpool.

Ben Robinson travels to Cushendall in Northern Ireland to explore the Curfew Tower and schoolhouse, built by its forward-thinking 19th-century merchant landlord.

Ben Robinson makes an amazing discovery at Norfolk’s Holkham estate – its lost medieval village, seen for the first time since its disappearance 200 years ago.

Ben Robinson discovers some of the impressive and well-preserved lime kilns in Solva, Wales, and learns how this industry helped feed a growing nation.

Ben Robinson heads to Beer, Devon, home to beer stone, which has been quarried since Roman times and used in many of England's cathedrals and iconic buildings.

Archaeologist Ben Robinson is in North Yorkshire, exploring how idyllic Runswick Bay was once a place of great danger, despite attracting tourists and inspiring artists.

Archaeologist Ben Robinson casts his eye over the village of Seahouses in Northumberland, where he discovers how the lethal rocks offshore have been both a blessing and a curse.

On a visit to the white cliffs of the Kent coast, Ben Robinson learns how an exclusive retreat for the rich and famous suddenly became 'Hellfire Corner' during World War II.

Archaeologist Ben Robinson investigates how a Cornish gem of a village became a world-famous centre of tin mining where people made and lost huge fortunes.

Archaeologist Ben Robinson visits the tiny Hampshire village that had a huge role in building ships for Nelson's victorious fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar.

In Cumbria, on the edge of the Lake District, Ben Robinson finds signs of early Christian pilgrims, while a 500-year-old house turns out to be the birthplace of an Elizabethan VIP.