Catch up TV

This episode is currently not available.

Series 4: 7. Seaton Sluice



Ben Robinson travels to Seaton Sluice in Northumberland, home to the notorious Delaval family. These wealthy bottle makers were some of the greatest players on the Georgian party scene. Their pranks and parties were infamous at their impressive mansion, but they also brought great innovation to the area when they redesigned the harbour.\n\nBen tracks the site of the past bottle works, dubbed by locals as the ‘city’, and unearths numerous glass fragments. By using modern science to analyse their unique glass recipe, he hopes to determine if they were made in the village itself.

Source: BBC 2

Most recent episodes of Villages by the Sea

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 4: 6. Beer

Series 4: 6. Beer

Ben Robinson heads to Beer, Devon, home to beer stone, which has been quarried since Roman times and used in many of the nation's cathedrals and landmark buildings, including We ...

11-02-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 4: 5. Solva

Series 4: 5. Solva

Ben Robinson discovers the impressive lime kilns in Solva, Wales. This picturesque 19th-century port is famous for producing quicklime, a vital ingredient in both agriculture an ...

04-02-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 4: 4. Holkham

Series 4: 4. Holkham

Ben Robinson makes an amazing discovery at Norfolk’s impressive Holkham estate - its lost medieval village, seen for the first time since its disappearance some 200 years ...

28-01-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 4: 3. Cushendall

Series 4: 3. Cushendall

Ben Robinson travels to Cushendall, one of the finest planned Georgian villages in Northern Ireland. It was owned and shaped by a series of owners but most notably its 19th-cent ...

21-01-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 4: 2. Port Carlisle

Series 4: 2. Port Carlisle

Ben Robinson examines the remains of a lost harbour in Port Carlisle, Cumbria, a small village near Carlisle which grew as a consequence of the canal building surge that swept t ...

14-01-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 5: 6. St Bees

Series 5: 6. St Bees

In Cumbria, on the edge of the Lake District, Ben Robinson finds evidence of early pilgrimage at a remarkable Norman priory. In a 500-year-old house in the village, the archaeol ...

10-01-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 4: 1. Culross

Series 4: 1. Culross

Ben Robinson visits Culross, a stunning example of a 17th-century Scottish royal burgh village. Culross was a major centre for Scottish coal mining and boasts the very first pla ...

07-01-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 5: 5. Bucklers Hard

Series 5: 5. Bucklers Hard

In Hampshire, archaeologist Ben Robinson investigates how a tiny village, originally meant to be a free port to process sugar, became a bustling naval shipyard.\n\nBen learns th ...

03-01-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 5: 4. St Agnes

Series 5: 4. St Agnes

Ben Robinson investigates how a Cornish gem became world-famous for tin. In the bay, the archaeologist unravels the epic story behind the hundreds of huge carved stones that lie ...

20-12-2024

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 5: 3. St Margaret's

Series 5: 3. St Margaret's

On a visit to the Kent coast, Ben Robinson learns how an exclusive retreat for the rich and famous suddenly became 'Hellfire Corner' during World War II. Ben examines graffiti i ...

13-12-2024

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Most popular episodes of Villages by the Sea

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 4: 4. Holkham

Series 4: 4. Holkham

Ben Robinson makes an amazing discovery at Norfolk’s impressive Holkham estate - its lost medieval village, seen for the first time since its disappearance some 200 years ...

28-01-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 4: 2. Port Carlisle

Series 4: 2. Port Carlisle

Ben Robinson examines the remains of a lost harbour in Port Carlisle, Cumbria, a small village near Carlisle which grew as a consequence of the canal building surge that swept t ...

14-01-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 3: Orford

Series 3: Orford

Lying off the North Sea is the unassuming Suffolk village of Orford. It’s behind a large shingle spit called Orford Ness. But as archaeologist Ben Robinson unearths, it&rs ...

04-08-2023

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 2: 2. Arnside

Series 2: 2. Arnside

Archaeologist Ben Robinson discovers how traditional boat building shaped the beautifully preserved village of Arnside on the banks of the River Kent in Cumbria.

25-06-2024

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Walberswick

Walberswick

Archaeologist Ben Robinson discovers the surprising story of this former medieval port on the Suffolk coast.\n\nCoastal villages are often seen as remote places for retreat and ...

26-09-2024

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 3: Craster

Series 3: Craster

Archaeologist Ben Robinson visits a small village in Northumberland to find out how the family and village who both share the name Craster have had their lives and fortunes inte ...

14-06-2023

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 2: 3. Thorpeness

Series 2: 3. Thorpeness

Archaeologist Ben Robinson uncovers the secrets of the Edwardian village of Thorpeness in Suffolk, the first purpose-built seaside village in the UK.

19-06-2024

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 5: 4. St Agnes

Series 5: 4. St Agnes

Ben Robinson investigates how a Cornish gem became world-famous for tin. In the bay, the archaeologist unravels the epic story behind the hundreds of huge carved stones that lie ...

20-12-2024

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Holy Island

Holy Island

Archaeologist Ben Robinson discovers the story of the monks and villagers of the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, off the Northumberland coast.\n\nOur coastal villages are often seen ...

24-09-2024

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 3: Parkgate

Series 3: Parkgate

Archaeologist Ben Robinson explores Parkgate, on the estuary of the River Dee in Cheshire. Today the village is landlocked, cut off from the Dee and the Irish Sea due to the est ...

18-08-2023

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

© 2025 - Catchupplayer.co.uk