HISTORY buffs are being invited to join in an exciting free project to uncover the hidden stories of seven North-East locations and learn useful archaeology skills.

Volunteers are needed for the ‘How To Tell The Story of a Village’ project run by community archaeology consultancy DigVentures.

The project is being delivered on behalf of Discover Brightwater, a National Lottery Heritage Fund  landscape partnership dedicated to celebrating the life and history surrounding the River Skerne, and paid for by people who play the National Lottery.

The nine-week project will dig into the past of eight historic North-East towns and villages located along the River Skerne, including Aycliffe, Bishop Middleham, Fishburn, Haughton-le-Skerne, Hope Town, Sadberge, and Sedgefield.

The Northern Echo: Community Archaeologist Jodie Hannis (left) and a local resident unearth a medieval window frame during a community excavation at Bishop Middleham. Photo credit: DigVenturesCommunity Archaeologist Jodie Hannis (left) and a local resident unearth a medieval window frame during a community excavation at Bishop Middleham. Photo credit: DigVentures

Maiya Pina-Dacier, Head of Community for DigVentures, said: “Working with Discover Brightwater has been very exciting. We’ve already investigated a couple of great sites, including excavating the remains of a Roman town in Sedgefield and a bishop’s palace in Bishop Middleham.

“Our mission with this project is to use a combination of artificial intelligence and more traditional techniques to see if we can discover previously unknow archaeological sites and figure out more about them, and really delve into the stories of these hidden parts of the area.

“This will be a really valuable contribution that local people can make to revealing the history of their area, but also for them to learn skills for researching local history which they can take away and apply to their own homes or other areas they’re interested in.”

The course is free-of-charge, and around three hours remote learning is required each week. Regular seminars will let learners come together and share their findings with their mentor and with each other, which learners can attend in-person or remotely.

Anyone interested in joining the free course can visit www.digventures.com to sign-up or for more information.