SCHOOLCHILDREN had a go at being archaeologists thanks to vineyard owners.

Jane and Stephen Mohan, owners of Coggeshall Vineyard, invited two groups of youngsters to watch how the professionals go about a dig.

The couple called in Essex County Council’s archaeological team to carry out a dig of the West Street premises as a requirement for planning permission to create a wine centre, cafe and house.

Mrs Mohan said: “They were very interested as they thought it might be the site of a Roman cemetery. They did not discover that, but they did find quite a few fragments of pot and they ascertained there was probably a settlement there about 800 years ago.”

The ten and 11-year-olds, from Holmwood House School, in Chitts Hill, Colchester, which the couple’s three children attend, and the Soaring High Montessori School, in Colne Road, Coggeshall, got into the trenches to have a go themselves.

Mrs Mohan said: “The archaeological team also brought along some pots they had found on previous digs and talked to the children about those.”