Channel 4 to screen Time Team dig Sunday 18th April

Presenter Tony Robinson said:

The three days we spent at the Abbey were among the most memorable in seventeen years of Time Team. The archaeology, the traffic, the noise - everything came together to make for an unforgettable dig… A big bonus about filming here has been that it's given us the opportunity to get behind the scenes. It's a vast place and people usually only see a fraction of it. I was lucky enough to visit parts of it that most visitors never see. Climbing on the roof, through unfinished chapels and into 11th century rooms - it was fascinating to get off the beaten track.

Time Team is all about bringing archaeology to the people, but at Westminster the people could come to the archaeology. Thousands of Abbey visitors lined up to see what we'd uncovered. And the most exciting moment of the dig had to be the identification of a tiny shard of Anglo Saxon pottery from Phil's chalk lined burial. For the first time we have solid evidence of a mysterious Anglo Saxon monastery that stood here a thousand years ago.

See the Time Team website for more details about the dig. The show will also be available to view on Channel 4’s website after transmission.

When Time Team realised the enormity of the task of filming at the Abbey they decided to make two programmes instead of just one. The second one-hour special programme on the Abbey will be broadcast later this year.