Hidden away in Kent is an architectural gem.

A house that has some how survived with a little bit of every fashion imposed on it over seven centuries.

This is Ightham Mote near Sevenoaks, bits of it date back to 1320 and officially it’s the most complete moated medieval manor house in the UK. At least it was until the National Trust started it’s most ambitious and expensive restoration project to date.

Since 1989 this building has been literally taken apart brick by brick and beam by beam revealing the hidden history of the house for the first time.

In this special Time Team documentary you will discover along with me that this is a totally different kind of archaeology. You’ll learn something about the twenty generations who lived here and see some of the things they deliberately hid away.