Villages by the Sea

Archaeologist Ben Robinson visits Bamburgh in Northumberland

Archaeologist Ben Robinson reveals how some of the nation's best-loved villages played a vital part in significant moments of history. He begins in Bamburgh in Northumberland, explaining how the health and fortunes of the village were shaped by those in charge of its famous castle, from early English kings to 18th-century philanthropists, who pioneered a welfare system nearly 200 years before one existed nationally. Ben visits fellow archaeologist Jessica Turner, whose findings show the seventh-century residents of Bamburgh were robust and healthy - contrary to the usual malnourishment of the British medieval population