Uncovering the secrets of Britain's most historic towns – from Viking hairstyles to a fondness for enemas

Could Chester have been the capital of Britain? Why does part of a Norman castle lie in a Winchester chocolate shop and what can a lump of 1,000-year-old excrement in York tell us about the Vikings? It’s questions such as these that Alice Roberts will attempt to answer in Britain’s Most Historic Towns, which begins on Channel 4 this Saturday.

The concept is simple enough – explore six cities which can claim to reveal the most about a particular period in history, from the Romans and the Vikings to the Victorians. In a series that is as much about archaeology as it is history, the anthropologist and TV presenter says the advantage of her approach is that “it allowed me to focus on small and fascinating local details, then pull out to look at the broader context and find out how a particular place echoed what was happening across Britain at the time. History can seem big, sprawling and abstract, but this is a way of reining it in and anchoring it.”

Roberts begins in Chester, “Britain’s most Roman town”, where she uncovers lost landmarks and priceless relics as she tours the city’s amphitheatre – the largest the Romans built in Britain (and once the scene of gladiatorial battles and where bulls were pitted against bears) and the impressive city walls. Beneath a Pret a Manger, she sees the remains of a Roman principia (headquarters) and also hears how what is now the Roodee, Chester’s racecourse (and Britain’s oldest), was once part of the sea and served as a huge Roman jetty. 

But Roberts says the biggest surprise was “the key role that Chester almost played in a plan to extend the boundaries of the Roman Empire and how the city could have become the most important in Britain.”

In next week’s episode, Roberts is after the Viking legacy in York, including street names that end in “gate” (the Viking word for street), a Viking heavy metal scene, and the Viking’s surprisingly high-fibre diet. She also finds evidence of how the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings co-existed and how the Norsemen also influenced local customs and even male hairstyles.

Elsewhere in her journey, the engaging and knowledgable Roberts finds what might be Britain’s first ever hospital in Winchester, visits Tudor Norwich and learns about the origins of its football club’s canary emblem, hears about a fondness for enemas in Regency Cheltenham, and finds a fascinating abandoned linen mill in Victorian Belfast.

Roberts says it was a struggle to nail down the six towns. “We came up with a very long shortlist and then it was a tough competition. To get into the final six, there had to be a good mix of grand narrative and surprising revelations. Those that didn’t maker the cut, I’m hoping to include in another series.”

Six of the best | The historic towns that will feature in the series

Did they choose the right towns, or has somewhere missed out? Let us know what you think.

Britain's Most Historic Towns, Channel 4, Saturday April 7 at 8.00pm