Liz Coates We have all seen those archaeological TV shows where men in stripy jumpers up to their eyes in mud get very excited while brushing mud off a pot.But how do you fancy all that activity in your own back garden - without the cameras rolling?TV archaeologist Carenza Lewis wants at least a dozen homeowners in Acle to allow a Time-Team style excavation in their own back yards, donating a 1m square pit to the programme.

Liz Coates

We have all seen those archaeological TV shows where men in stripy jumpers up to their eyes in mud get very excited while brushing mud off a pot.

But how do you fancy all that activity in your own back garden - without the cameras rolling?

TV archaeologist Carenza Lewis wants at least a dozen homeowners in Acle to allow a Time-Team style excavation in their own back yards, donating a 1m square pit to the programme.

She aims to garner her workforce from local high schools and community in a scheme which puts the finding on a par with the finds.

Once the plots have been agreed the two-day dig in June will be led by Ms Lewis. The aim of the digs is to enable young people to develop their skills including research, team working and analysis and to encourage them to study at university.

They will also learn more about the development of their village.

Local enthusiast, author and amateur archaeologist, Brian Grint, said he received a call out of the blue from Ms Lewis this week suggesting her team focus on Acle - already the hub of significant archaeological activity thanks to a lottery funded community dig.

Last summer's efforts had helped to form a good picture of Acle's origins as well as unearthed a bronze-age arrow head, but the possibility of digging in ordinary gardens that were usually out of bounds was exciting, he said.

“The Beighton Road area would be really good,” he said. “It is an open field area and the houses have been there less than 100 years. I would think the gardens there would be quite revealing. There is no telling what we might find.”

The digs are part of a special programme of Higher Education Field Academies (HEFAs) piloted in Norfolk and run by Ms Lewis at Cambridge University. The pupils will be digging test pits and logging finds to contribute to a proper academic research initiative which will be published in due course and will learn more about analytical study skills on the way.

The scheme is being co-ordinated by Brian Grint on 01493 750039.

Julian Richards of the BBCs Meet the Ancestors is giving a talk at Acle High School on July 9 and joining pupils on the Springfield dig the next day.