The archaeologists hoping to uncover Rochdale town centre's Medieval history

A team of archaeologists from Salford University are leading a project to uncover possible 18th century remains at a town hall in the North West.

The large scale dig is taking place in the area of Rochdale that would have been a key textile trading route.

The team is hoping to uncover the foundations of homes belonging to wool merchants, as well as uncover stories of the area from the late medieval ages through to the 1860s.

The Grade-I listed town hall, which was built in 1871, is currently being renovated ahead of a planned reopening in 2023.

"The really amazing thing is that the community are involved in the excavation of the site itself."

Archaeologist Joe Brooks said: "What we're hoping to find is the medieval remains of Rochdale that have been covered by 19th century developments.

"It's so unusual, and so important, to get the community involved and just encourage people to be interested in their past really."

Among the items found at the site were old ginger beer bottles and chamber pots.

Joe said: "We've found quite a lot of Victorian buildings, we've found part of an ornamental garden and we also found quite a few toilets."

The community were invited to get involved in 'The Big Dig', searching through the remains of homes which belonged to 18th century Rochdale people. Archeologists will remain at the site for while longer.

Rochdale Town Council received an £8.3m grant from the National Lottery in 2020 to restore parts of the historic building.