Time Team

Season 17 Episode 5: The Massacre in the Cellar - Hopton Castle, Shropshire

Tony Robinson and the Team visit the remains of Hopton Castle in Shropshire. Although it's picturesque, it was the site of a series of gruesome battles that took place at height of the English Civil War, when a Royalist force laid siege to a small garrison of Parliamentarians inside the castle. The Team use contemporary accounts and the evidence from their own trenches to separate fact from propaganda and piece together a blow-by-blow account of these violent days in 1644. The dig immediately produces evidence of battle. Over three days the archaeology begins to build up a compelling story of how the defenders fought off two attacks, killing hundreds of Royalists, before finally succumbing to the greater numbers of their enemy.

Genre:

Documentary, Mystery

Seasons:

21

Episodes:

246

Actor:

Gus Casely-Hayford, Natalie Haynes, Carenza Lewis

Quality:

HD

Status:

Returning Series

First Air:

1994

IMDb:

7.3