HIDDEN history in residents gardens could be uncovered during an archaeological dig. Norton Community Archaeology Group will establish a number of test pits at two addresses in Caslon Way, Letchworth GC, this weekend in a bid to discover more about the R

HIDDEN history in residents' gardens could be uncovered during an archaeological dig.

Norton Community Archaeology Group will establish a number of test pits at two addresses in Caslon Way, Letchworth GC, this weekend in a bid to discover more about the Roman history in the area.

North Hertfordshire District Council's archaeology officer, Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews, said: "When the houses were being built on Caslon Way in 1954, workmen digging foundations discovered bits of pottery and bone, so they called in the curator of the museum.

''He recognised the pottery was Roman and found it had come from two areas in particular, which we now think may have been pits or ditches belonging to a farm or village that stood in this area 1,900 years ago.

"What we are now aiming to do is to try to find out more precisely what sort of remains are in the area, how big the settlement may have been and whether we can find objects that will help us to date the site more accurately.

"We have found that Letchworth Garden City was an area of intensively farmed land during Roman times, with farms and villages mostly on the hilltops. The farms' prosperity probably depended on the existence of a market nearby in the ancient town of Baldock."

Norton Community Archaeology Group was formed in 2006 and includes local residents and amateur and professional archaeologists.

For more information about the group, visit http://www.nortoncommarch.co.uk/

To get involved in the project, email mickcommunications@hotmail.co.uk for details.