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Private Notes
Tony Pollard and Neil Oliver visit the site of the Battle of Culloden. They carry out a full archaeological investigation of the site. The Battle of Culloden illuminates a dynastic rivalry of gigantic proportions. In 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie stepped into the spotlight. He sailed out of exile, landed on Scottish soil, and, along with his Jacobite supporters, attempted to restore his father and the Stewart line to the British throne, which they'd been kicked off 57 years before. His cousin, William Duke of Cumberland, the youngest son of King George the Second, led a huge government army against him. On April 16th 1746, they met just outside Inverness on Culloden Moor, in the Battle of Culloden, the aftermath of which would reverberate down through centuries.
In 1513 Europe was in turmoil. The King of England, Henry VIII had crossed the Channel and invaded France. The French were Scotland's historic ally and James the IV, the Scottish king, felt duty bound to come to their assistance. He did this by invading England, leading one of the best equipped armies Scotland was ever to send across the border. Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, brought the English army north to repel them. The two huge armies met at Flodden, and after just three bloody hours of battle, 12,000 men and the King of Scotland lay dead. Neil and Tony start their archaeological expedition by trying to locate the Scottish defences and gun emplacements on the Hill of Flodden.
During the English Civil War, Newark was known as the 'Key to the North' because of its great strategic importance. The River Trent, and two vital communication routes - the Great North Road and the Fosse Way - all met here. Newark had provided staunch support for King Charles I and the royalists, but Parliament was determined to take it. After two failed sieges, they were back in 1645 for a third go. This time they meant business. The team starts their dig at Shelford, the site of an early battle in the siege. They discover two medieval buildings - one which was standing at the time of the battle and the other they believe was a church buried beneath the defensive rampart.
Neil and Tony try to pinpoint the exact location of the Battle of Barnet which took place in 1471 between the armies of Edward IV, the Yorkists, and the Lancastrians. Along with a team of archaeologists, they head to suburban London to investigate the medieval battle. Today the battlefield has disappeared beneath centuries of urban development, but just over 500 years ago, 25,000 soldiers fought one of the crucial battles of the Wars of the Roses. The location is currently a golf course and a car park, but the team manages to find spots that could be excavated for evidence of the battle.
Inchkeith is an extraordinary place. Barely a mile long, the island is covered with fascinating reminders of its long and dramatic history. The island was first occupied in the 7th century by Christian monks. The Danes, the Dutch, the English, the Russians, the French and the Germans have all tried their luck on the island. But not all residents went to the island of their own volition. The island has been used as a giant isolation ward for syphilis sufferers, and one time as a prison
With a team of archaeologists, Neil and Tony are off to investigate the Battle of Shrewsbury which took place in 1403, at the end of a sweltering hot day in July. The Church of St Mary Magdalene, built in commemoration of the battle, stands on the spot where it is thought 2000 soldiers were buried in a mass grave. The battle had its origins in 1399 when Henry Bolingbroke overthrew the rightful king of England, Richard II, and had himself crowned Henry IV.
Archaeologists Tony Pollard and Neil Oliver carry out detailed studies of British battlegrounds, beginning with a visit to Essex to uncover the lost site of RAF Hornchurch, an airbase that played a crucial role in the Battle of Britain. The intrepid pair chronicle the story of the aerial conflict between the Luftwaffe and the RAF, unearth precious finds from the period, talk to veterans of World War Two and trace the whereabouts of a Spitfire which flew out of Hornchurch during the battle. .
Archaeologists Tony Pollard and Neil Oliver go in search of evidence of the Battle of Sedgemoor of 1685, the last confrontation of its kind to take place on English soil, when the forces of James II faced a rebel army raised by his nephew the Duke of Monmouth. However, as they hunt for clues, it seems the duo's most potent enemy could be the local Somerset cider.
Archaeologists Tony Pollard and Neil Oliver examine the 1642 Battle of Edgehill in Warwickshire, where almost 30,000 Roundheads and Cavaliers fought the first major engagement of the English Civil War. The pair discover that no archaeological work has ever been done on the site, and, before they don period costumes to test their 17th-century pistols, their excavations uncover long-lost buildings standing at the time of the conflict.
Archaeologists Tony Pollard and Neil Oliver investigate the 1689 Battle of Killiecrankie, when the Highland clans, lead by Bonnie Dundee, rose up against English troops supporting William of Orange, bringing about the first Jacobite rebellion. As they conduct their excavation, the pair come across a sniper's den and the remains of a house lost more than 300 years ago.
Archaeologists Tony Pollard and Neil Oliver search for the site of the battle of Bannockburn where, in 1314, Scotland's Robert the Bruce routed Edward II's English forces. The location of the country's most famous conflict proves elusive, and the pair must call upon all their expertise, coming face to face with mounted police and an irate museum director in the process.
Archaeologists Tony Pollard and Neil Oliver travel to the White Cliffs of Dover in search of clues to one of the forgotten conflicts of World War Two - the Battle of the Big Guns, which lasted from 1940 to 1944. After they set up their HQ, the pair search for evidence of Winnie and Jane, two of the long-range British weapons which fired across the Channel, and visit France to see their German counterparts.
