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The ruins are masked by trailing ivy and ancient oaks, but they are just a stone's throw away from the busy A12 at Blythburgh - next door to the majestic 'Cathedral of the Marshes'.

Such is their obscurity, even the landowner Nick Howard was unaware the ruins at the bottom of his garden had any religious connection.

"I didn't realise these were the ruins of an old church," Nick said. "There's a massive hole in the history of Blythburgh and after these three days of digging we hope to fill in some of those gaps."

It's hoped the dig taking place in October 2008 can shed light on the village's history and its boast of being one of the earliest Christian sites in East Anglia.

Where once was a high, vaulted roof and thick walls, there are now solitary flint monoliths rising from the undergrowth and tussocks of a shady glade.

And instead of Augustian canons and monks walking round in calm contemplation, frenetic TV archaeologist Phil Harding can be seen in customary dirty jeans and hat; moving dead tree trunks and beckoning to noisy mechanical diggers.

Experts believe the decaying columns were once part of the large church and priory of the Blessed Virgin Mary which dates back to the 12th Century.

Mick Aston

Joining the dots

Most of the building, together with the stone cladding of the pillars, has disappeared, which comes as no surprise to Mick Aston, one of the archaeologists on the Channel Four show:

"We think we've found the church of the priory, but there would have also been a cloister and other buildings and part of our job is to find out where they would have been.

"We've found some medieval floor tiles, but you have to remember that sites like these, once they'd fallen into disrepair,Μύgot recycled.

"People pinched all the stuff and a lot of sites in Suffolk were robbed because once they go out of use, locals bring in a cart and take away everything they can."

Asked when he was last in Suffolk, presenter Tony Robinson said: "I love doing the show but my memory is not as good as the fantastic archaeologists on the show.

"I'm a bit more rock 'n' roll than Mick and the others and whereas they remember everything, every artifact, to me it's just another three days digging, another hotel room, another series of trenches."

In fact it's been four years since the Time Team were last seen digging in Suffolk, that time it was in Ipswich, but they've also come to Lavenham and Elveden as well as a special visit to Bill Wyman's home near Bury St Edmunds.

Tony says the site at Blythburgh is very special and he thinks there's something magical about it: "There are so many discreet corners of archaeology in this country, sometimes right next to a busy road, which are hiding fascinating ruins just like this one at Blythburgh.

"I think we're going to unveil a great mystery here."

Time team has aired on Channel Four since 1994. The team try to uncover as much as they can about the archaeology and history of a site as they can in just three days.