NEIL Oliver, archaeologist, historian, author and presenter of the TV series Coast, will be sharing his love of Britain with audiences this autumn on his first ever UK theatre tour. He talks to James Rampton

What inspired you to go on tour?

I saw a flyer for Ray Mears’ show near us in Stirling. My wife said to me, “Why don’t you do a show like that?” I thought The Story of The British Isles in 100 Places would lend itself particularly well to a tour of Britain. The venues on the tour will all be close to the locations I’m talking about. There is a geographic as well as a historical side to this. I wanted to do something simple and straightforward. I’m not an academic, I’m an enthusiast. The Story of The British Isles in 100 Places connects all of these towns, which are like shining gems on a chain.

How did you go about selecting those 100 places?

Writing is fifty per cent of what I do, and I’m always thinking about the next book. Over the past 20 years, TV has taken me on a very unusual tour of Britain. As well as iconic places such as the White Cliffs of Dover, Edinburgh and Cardiff, I’ve gone to unexpected, remote places that take quite a lot of getting to. They are places that people have never heard of, so I’d become aware that an idiosyncratic chronology of the British Isles had formed in my head.

I had seen everything from very early human settlements around Happisburgh, where there are footprints from 800,000 years ago, through the Stone and Metal Ages to sites connected to great moments from a more modern era. I realised there was a story to be told from very early to modern times by introducing people to these places.

Do you have a favourite?

That is very hard because there are so many places in the British Isles that I love. For instance, Iona is somewhere I’ve been a lot over the years, and I love it. It’s a great centre of Christianity, but beyond that it’s a very spiritual place because of the look of it. It’s a little island with a beautiful shape. It has turquoise seas, pink rocks and a wonderful abbey that dates back many centuries. It’s a lovely, relaxing place to be.

I also love Avebury. I was taken there as an archaeology student in my teens, and I’ve visited it many times since. Whatever you think magic is, there is magic in Avebury. There is something there that just lets your imagination run free.

The Tower of London is a fascinating place, too. It’s an icon. It’s dwarfed by modern London and almost looks like a toy. But the parish church inside it, St Peter ad Vincula, is astonishing. In front of the altar is a shallow grave containing the bodies of Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, Lady Jane Grey, Thomas More, William Lord and many more. They are all there, having been dispatched by the executioner’s axe. It’s the antithesis of Westminster Abbey, where the glorious dead are revered. At the Tower of London, they are tucked away and buried in shallow graves to be forgotten.

How do you maintain your passion for your subject?

I’m always in the position of finding out that I don’t know anything. Every day is a school day. I’m always realising that however many interesting facts I’ve picked up, I don’t know the half of it. That keeps me fascinated.

Does history affect popular culture today?

Definitely. The stuff that happened in Scotland during the medieval period was every bit as violent as Game of Thrones. If you think the House of Lannister is bloodthirsty, just take a look at what happened with the Campbells and MacDonalds!

Why are we so fascinated by history?

As animals, we’re curious about each other - hence the popularity of gossip magazines. History is part of that. From a very young age, I was always interested in why things were the way they were. That same instinct draws to science people who want to know why the grass is green. Science deals with the how; history deals with the why and the who. As a child, you think, “Why do I live here?” Your parents say, “We moved here because of your dad’s work.” Or you hear that both your grandfathers survived the First World War, and you ask, “What is the First World War?” Very soon, it starts to become history.

Can yesterday teach us about today?

Yes. Our current geopolitical situation is fascinating and complex. Why are we at daggers drawn with Russia? Why did the recent poisoning in Salisbury happen? Why are we better off than people in Africa? It’s a long story that is 50,000 years old. It’s all because of history. You can’t understand anything without history. If the story of the world is a book, then all of us are born on a different page. If you only read a few lines around your page, you won’t understand the story.

Everything makes more sense when you study history. The more history you read, the less judgemental you become. All the things that are happening now have happened before. It’s always been the case that people can’t get on with each other. If kids out there are worried about relations between the West and Russia, you can tell them that we’ve fallen out before. We’ve also been at war with America. Countries reach a high point, and then they go through low points. That’s all explained by history.

You studied archaeology - what is it that you find so interesting about the subject?

It’s the opportunity to handle objects that were last handled by someone 8,000 years ago. No one else has touched them until today. You can also find the marks where people knelt. So as well as finding evidence of the fighting at the Battle of the Somme, you can find the place where a soldier knelt to cook. That gives you a funny feeling.

What is the most exciting archaeological find you have made?

At the battlefield at Isandlwana, in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, I found a bullet from a Martini-Henry rifle. I can be sure that was fired on January 22, 1879, probably around lunchtime. I also found the button from a soldier’s tunic. There could only be one reason why that was there. At a Neolithic site, I also found a scatter of flint tools. There were four bald spots in the middle where their feet had been. Whoever it was, stood up from working with the tools and walked away, little knowing that that 8,000 years later, someone would find that impression on the ground. I find that profoundly moving.

Tell us a bit about your new novel, The Black Glass?

It’s a kind of sequel to my last novel, Master of Shadows. It has the same central character. He comes back from the Siege of Constantinople in 1453 and finds himself swept up in the events of the Wars of the Roses. It involves a real artefact from a real person, Dr John Dee, who was known as Queen Elizabeth’s magician. He had a Black Mirror, which was part of the kit he used for magic and is now in the British Museum. I created a complete fiction around that.

  • The Story of The British Isles in 100 Places: The Royal Hall, Harrogate, Monday, October 1; Newcastle City Hall, Wednesday, November 14. Tickets from theatre box offices and neiloliver.com