THE fabled ditch of King Alfred still remains undiscovered following an archaeological dig by TV valuation expert Marc Allum and his team in Chippenham.

The excavation took place in the garden of Mr Allum’s home, on St Mary’s Street, for the third year in a row in the hope of finding Saxon remains.

King Alfred’s ditch dates back to 878, where he had set up his court before coming under attack.

“His court was sited here although no actual physical evidence has been found,” said Mr Allum, who is an expert on BBC One programme Antiques Roadshow along with his wife, Lisa Lloyd.

“It was laid to siege by Guthrum and Alfred had to flee down to Somerset where the Battle of Edington took place.

“Chippenham is a very interesting historical place and it’s not given the importance that it should be given.”

The excavation took place earlier this month with the help of archaeologists Mike Stone and Clive Green, with all materials unearthed going to the Chippenham Museum and Heritage Centre.

“It was interesting, last year we caught the edge of a medieval building but this year we found that it went in a totally different direction and is much larger than we thought,” added Mr Allum, 51, who has lived in Chippenham for four years.

“Last year we found a very nice 15/16th century token but this year we didn’t have coins or tokens but we did have lots of medieval pottery and lots of domestic stuff.

“In layman terms it wasn’t that exciting but archaeology can be like that.

“We will probably relocate to different spot in the garden next year.”