Archaeologists are hoping to gather clues about life in St. George's in the early years of the town when they carry out a rare dig on Saturday.

Bermuda National Trust is taking advantage of some trenching work which the Corporation of St. George's is carrying out at One Gun Alley - to put some power lines underground - to examine the historic lane.

The lane is thought to have been used as a pathway in the early 1700's, and it was busy in the 1800's when a tavern - which is now Foster House - stood on the site, which was run by former slave William Archer.

The Corporation has now decided that whenever any part of the Old Town is dug up for maintenance work, archaeologists will first be given a chance to examine the site to look for signs of life in St. George's in its earliest years.

Two more digs, involving a team from Bristol University in England, will take place this summer at sites of former Government Houses, the garden at the Bank of Bermuda, and the Unfinished Church, dating from 1700 and 1722.

One Gun Alley is thought to have derived its name from Governor Bruere placing a single gun platform there following unease in the town about American Revolution insurgency in the wake of the 1775 Gunpowder Plot.

The chance to dig at the lane, which links Duke of York Street and Water Street East, came about after members of the Trust's Archaeological Research Committee spotted the trenching work on Saturday morning.

St. George's town manager Lance Furbert, an expert on the history of Old Town and its surrounding forts, ordered work to be stopped until the Trust team carries out its dig.

Initial inspections have revealed a layer of red brick about two feet below the surface. Trust members have already found ceramics and a fragment of pipe which probably date to the late 18th century, fragments of creamware and pearlware, a bovine pipe, a glass bottle, a copper screw top, and some heavy chert - or flint cobbles - which were probably ballast stone.

Mr. Furbert told The Royal Gazette yesterday: "One thing I think we will do, whether we find anything or not, is to get some idea of the layers of earlier streets up to the tarmac.

"The red brick is definitely out of place (at that site) and we really don't know where it came from. It is possibly a base for a building."

National Trust director Amanda Outerbridge, said: "The National Trust welcomes and supports this initiative by the Corporation.

"It is really important for such sensitivity to be displayed in the World Heritage Site, which is rich in archaeological potential. Archaeological digs are essential to unravel the full history of the early days of the town."