The Lakes hidden industrial heritage uncovered

A scheme to help unearth part of the Lake District's industrial heritage is underway. A series of archeological digs are taking place and volunteers are working alongside professional archeologists to uncover the area's lost history. Near Grasmere a watermill from 600 years ago has been discovered. In the Middle Ages it was the site of a Fulling mill, where woollen cloth was brought to be cleaned and softened ready for tailoring.

Jamie Lund, an archeologist for the National Trust gave our reporter Marti Errington-Dodds an explanation of the site:

This graphic shows what it could have looked like.

This scheme is called Reflections on History and involves a series of archeological investigations around the Lake District. It's part of a £1.6m series of projects aiming to bring to life the environmental and heritage qualities around the Windermere catchment area, it's partly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Jamie explains how the projects work together.

Each project uses local volunteers. At the site in Grasmere they are certainly not short of enthusiasm.

There were once up to 600 Fulling mills in Cumbria so next time you take to the fells, have a look around it's surprising what you could be walking past.