City's industrial role in Roman times revealed

A ROMAN industrial hub discovered on the banks of the River Wear near Sunderland features in a new TV series.

- OWEN YOUNGER

Experts have found evidence of the riverside workshop in the hamlet of Offerton, with over 800 whetstones stone bars used to sharpen bladed tools and weapons and 11 stone anchors discovered.

This is the largest known whetstone discovery of this time period in North West Europe, and places North East England firmly within Roman Britain's manufacturing and trade network.

The finds suggest Offerton is the first Roman site found in Britain where stone was deliberately quarried for whetstone production.

Alongside the 800 whetstones excavated, the team believe there are hundreds, possibly thousands, more that remain buried within the riverbank.

Analysis of the sediment layer undertaken by Durham University's Department of Archaeology has confirmed the site dates to the Roman period. The site was discovered and excavated by volunteers from the Vedra Hylton Community Association, supported by the university.

The excavations will be featured on the new series of Digging for Britain on BBC2, which is also available now on iPlayer.

The project was led by Gary Bankhead, President of the Vedra Hylton Community Association and Honorary Fellow of Durham University's Department of Archaeology. It has been supported by staff and students including Bronze Age and Roman experts Dr Benjamin Roberts, Dr Eleri Cousins, and Dr Eric Andrieux.