A mysterious lime kiln could hold the key to un-locking an archaeological puzzle on the outskirts of Ingleton, as dig members wait for a TV expert’s results, writes Andy Bloxham.

Archaeologist Mark Nowell, who recently appeared on BBC2’s Hidden Treasures programme, is conducting tests to determine to within ten years when the kiln was last used.

The answer could be as far back as the time of Christ.

David Johnson, chairman of the Ingleborough Archaeology Group which organised the dig, said it could be “extremely important”, as very few of such sites have been explored.

Despite uncovering hundreds of pieces of pottery, stonework and bone on the site, archaeologists found it tough to get a precise date on the kiln’s last use and hired Mr Nowell to help.

Mr Johnson said evidence from different periods made it hard to find which part of the site was most representative.

“It’s very important that we get as much detail out of this kiln as possible and how it works. This is a golden opportunity.” Durham-based expert Mr Nowell is an archaeo-magnetist - a mix of scientist and archaeologist. He examined the kiln at the dig, which had unusually been filled, lit and abandoned, leaving the fired pottery untouched.

He analysed the stone lining of the kiln with sensors “like wiring you up for heart checks in hospital”.

Perhaps the most interesting pieces so far uncovered were two shards of 16th or 17th century pottery which, when placed together, revealed the face of Cardinal Bellarmine, an unpopular Catholic church leader born in 1542, five years before the death of Henry VIII.

Dozens of similar sites across the North of England lie unexplored but the site in Ingleton is such a good example that all the others are known as ‘Ingletons’.

The dig has been more than two years in the making.

Funding of £25,000 from the Local Heritage Initiative, with £1,500 from North Craven Heritage Trust, meant they could afford five carbon datings costing £350 each, as well as hiring two professional architects and state-of-the-art three-dimensional imaging equipment to map the finds.

The dig has now finished and all finds will go to Craven Museum, Skipton, as soon as they are ready to be displayed.