ARCHAEOLOGISTS are trying to shed new light on the lost past of one of the region’s most spectacular heritage sites.

A team are working at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal near Ripon to discover more about the lost bathing house in the estate’s water gardens.

And visitors to the National Trust site will able to drop in between August 14 and 18 to see what they uncover in the project, named Splash.

The bathing house was constructed in the 1730s by the family which created the water gardens which helped earn the site its World Heritage Site status.

A classically-inspired building, the bathing house consisted of a changing room and a covered plunge pool, fed by spring water and linked by a central corridor.

Demolished in the 1850s, nothing visible remains of this hidden treasure which formed a pivotal role in the 18th-century garden.

Two trial trenches were dug in July which has helped to inform this second, longer excavation.

Starting tomorrow, August 14, experts from Field Archaeology Specialists plan to control the spring water supply that still runs to this day. In addition, they hope to uncover and understand any archaeological remains that survive, so that they can be appropriately conserved.

Archaeologist Mark Newman is also writing a blog about the project. View it by visiting http://thefountainsabbeyblog.blogspot.co.uk/ .