Bathing machine returned to Bognor Regis beach as filming continues on The Great British Dig
and live on Freeview channel 276
The show, which is presented by comedian Hugh Dennis, spent last week investigating the foundations of a nineteenth century estate on the grounds of St Mary’s Catholic Primary School.
The dig started on Monday and expert archaeologists uncovered a number of interesting artefacts. Alongside the foundations, executive producer Audrey Neil said experts made a number of exciting finds: “We found some really ornate plasterwork, which has come from inside the building,” she said.
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Hide Ad“We also found what we initially thought was a really fancy Victorian loo. It’s a beautiful blue, very ornate loo bowl, but having looked it over, it’s more likely Georgian.”
On Friday, filming efforts continued as a bathing machine once used on Bognor Regis beach returned to the shingle as showrunners continued to explore our town’s heritage.
The machine was once used to preserve the dignity of lords and ladies as they visited the beach, but when it’s not being in Channel 4 documentaries, it takes pride of place at a new exhibition in the Bognor Regis museum.
For Ken Blamires, chair of the Bognor Regis Heritage Trails Trust, seeing the bathing machine back in its natural habitat was a rare, and exciting, sight. He said the TV show’s presence in Bognor Regis will go a long way towards spreading awareness of our town’s heritage and history.
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Hide Ad"It’s a great opportunity for the town. To see the bathing machine actually on the beach for the first time in god knows how many years is a real treat,” he said.
"It’s a really fantastic asset for our town. There are only one or two left in the whole world, and one of them is here. So it’s a real feather in the cap for Bognor Regis.
“At the Heritage Trust we do our best to raise awareness of the assets this town has at its disposal, and this bathing machine is absolutely one of them, I think we should be very proud of it.”