Seahouses in the spotlight for new episode of BBC series Villages by the Sea

Archaeologist Ben Robinson learns how the lethal shoreline shaped its transformation from a sleepy farming outpost to a thriving seaport with a bustling trade in eco-tourism.

Exploring the massive lime kilns and yards, Ben uncovers how a family of Scottish entrepreneurs super charged the herring industry and, in the process, shaped the village we see today.

“Tens of thousands of people will have been along that coastline and been up that high street in Seahouses for their ice cream and some great fish and chips,” he said.

"They might have wandered down to the harbour and gone out to the Farne Islands on a boat but, in doing so, perhaps a lot of people miss how Seahouses came to be so that’s what we’ve tried to give a flavour of.

"This place wasn’t invented as a tourist experience. It’s had to adapt and change over time and it’s doing that very successfully. The place is swarming!

“We try and look beyond the obvious,” he explained. “It’s a thriving place these days but going back there was hardly anything there at all. The main village was North Sunderland and it was all about farming. There were a few little fishermen’s cottages but that was it.

"People might think the harbour’s been there forever and it’s always been a busy seaside place but it really hasn’t. The thing that kicked it off was agriculture, the lime industry and coal and it developed as an industrial port. Fishing came second and people might be a bit surprised by that.

"You tend to explore half the village when you’re there but if you go into the core of the old village you see it’s laid out on a grid pattern and this was a development of fish yards, herring yards, warehouses and granaries. This was an industrial settlement and they built this enormous harbour structure to accommodate all this activity.

"It’s not an accident that it grew like this but very purposeful bits of entrepreneurship, investment and sheer hard work to create this place in what was a fairly unlikely spot because it was difficult and dangerous to get boats in and out of there. So they really wanted to make this place work – and it did work!”

The presenter is no stranger to Northumberland having featured the likes of Craster, Alnmouth, Bamburgh, Holy Island and Seaton Sluice in previous episodes.

"Northumberland has so many beautiful villages and coastal scenery and really rich stories,” he said. “The people are really proud of where they live and want to share that and help us make a good story so we keep coming back.

"I discover things that I never knew and that’s why it’s such a joy for me. I’ve been to Seahouses several times. The first time was on a school trip when I was about 12 and we did the Farne Islands trip. I’ve been several times since and I thought I knew the place fairly well but I didn’t. It’s when you get exploring and talk to local and national experts that you really discover it.”

The Seahouses episode airs on Monday, November 11 at 8pm and will also be available on the iPlayer.