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Hartlepool residents are invited to take part in excavation efforts to uncover a forgotten part of the town’s wartime heritage.

Archaeologists have started digging in Clavering Road in an attempt to find the remains of Hartlepool’s First World War sound mirror.

The Clavering sound mirror played a major role in fending off a Zeppelin attack near town in November 1916 when it picked up the sound of approaching aircraft, alerting civilians and anti-aircraft guns to danger.

The sound mirror was the only early warning system Britain had until radar was introduced in 1938 and stood alongside five other mirrors along the North-East coast until it was demolished in the 1960s to make way for housing.

Sound artist Rob Smith demonstrates how a sound mirror works.

Robin Daniels, archaeology officer at Tees Archaeology, which is carrying out the work on behalf of heritage organisation Seascapes, said: “It is always exciting to put the first ‘metaphorical’ spade, actually a JCB, in the ground and begin to see what we can recover that has been lost to memory.”

Robin added: “At the moment, it’s still in the very early stages. We’ve got two trenches open and we’re just beginning to get down to the kind of levels where you might expect to find some more information.”

Pupils at nearby Clavering Primary School are working alongside the excavation team to learn more about the area and its history.

School deputy headteacher Neil McAvoy said: “At Clavering, we believe that studying local history is a way to immerse our children in a place they love and can help them feel rooted in it.”

Lead archaeologist, Robin Daniels (front left), planning archaeologist, Rosie Banens (back left), access and volunteer officer at Seascapes, Vicky Ward (centre), volunteer, Andy Dunn (back right) and volunteer, Jonathon Moore (front right).

He added: "By trying to understand the history of a local environment and culture, they can feel better connected to past communities, preserve the past and bring those stories back to life."

Pupils are also working with local artist Rob Smith to create a listening device with Scratch programming before heading down to the site to record sound and help with the archaeological dig.

Vicky Ward, access and volunteer officer at SeaScapes, said: “Over the next few days, we will continue to dig deeper just to see what they reveal.”

She added: "That’s the surprise with archaeology, we just don’t know what we’re going to find when we dig.”

To take part or for more information, get in touch with Vicky on Facebook at Vicky Seascapes.

Hartlepool excavation project begins in bid to uncover remains of First World War sound mirror