In 1612, a mere three years after Sir George Somers and his Sea Venture crew were shipwrecked in a storm off Gates Bay that led to the founding of Bermuda, the first Governor's House was already standing in the capital St. George's.

The Island's first Governor, Richard Moore, who arrived in 1612 with a party of about 60 adventurers from the Virginia Company to begin the permanent settlement of Bermuda, built the seat of colonial power by a sea inlet which ran off what is now King's Square.

An early illustration by John Smith (right) from 1624 shows the Governor's House, which is thought to have been made of wood, standing proudly in front of St. Peter's Church and close to a handful of smaller unidentified buildings.

Nathaniel Butler, the Governor from 1619 to 1622, described it as "a pretye handsome house contrived into the fashion of a crosse".

It was, according to Dr. Mark Horton, the head of the Archaeology Department at Bristol University, the first Governor's house in the English-speaking New World, which could offer vital clues to life during the earliest days of English colonialism.

But by 1685, the official residence had evidently fallen into a state of disrepair and the then Governor Richard Cony moved out into another house in St. George's, complaining that the roof leaked and it did not offer adequate shelter from the hurricanes which battered the Island.

The colony sold it to Samuel Harvey in 1693 and he demolished the landmark structure.

So, the building which dates from the first days of Bermuda had disappeared into history.

This week, Dr Horton and his Bristol University team began an archaeological dig which they hope will take them back in time to rediscover the building.

They believe the first Governor's House stood in what is now the car park of the Bank of Bermuda in St. George's, and they have just broken ground to scoop out a series of trenches which they hope will prove they have hit the right spot.

It took just nine inches to reach the bedrock, and Dr Horton is praying one of the trenches will provide evidence of wooden support holes used in the building.

If the three week dig - which will also excavate the site of the third Governor's House dating from 1721-1815 on what is now the Unfinished Church, and nearby Aunt Nea's - is a success, it should uncover 17th century pottery, clay pipes, glass, and possibly other artefacts.

Yesterday, an excited Dr Horton told The Royal Gazette: "There is an early illustration of the first Governor's House, but no one knows exactly where it's location is.

"It seems to be at the site of the Bank of Bermuda, or more likely, somewhere out the back here, but the maps are not very accurate.

"It was knocked down in the 1690's, and if we can find it, it is a huge part of the jigsaw puzzle.

"We are not sure if it was stone or timber, but we think it was timber.

"If it is timber, we have more chance of finding it than if it was masonry because they would put a number of post holes into the ground.

"We expect to find artefacts in rubbish pits, 17th century material, pottery, clay pipes and glass.

"Last summer, we excavated a Governor's House from St. Kitts dating from 1624 and there are a lot of similarities with here.

"And the people involved in the St. Kitts colony had links with the Bermuda Company.

"St. Kitts was the first English colony in the Caribbean and the three key points in the English settlement of the New World, were here, Jamestown, and St. Kitts."

In 1699, Governor Samuel Day built the second Governor's House, which became the Globe Hotel, directly next to the first house.

The Bank of Bermuda car park now being excavated is thought to have originally been a garden for the Globe and possibly waste land until the 1930's, when John Smith built a grocers store on the site.

The store was knocked down in the early 1970's.

Bermuda lost the Globe as a Governor's House because Samuel Day refused to give it up, so in 1721, the third Governor's House was built on the site of the Unfinished Church, which was then demolished around 1874 to make way for the church.

Dr Horton said any finds made on the sites could enhance Bermuda's attempt to attract cultural tourists interested on history.

Local historian Lance Furbert, the St. George's Town Manager, said these excavations were vital because even if nothing is found, at least the site had been dug and the Corporation of St. George would have the site charted.

"As a World Heritage Site, this has to be done and we really have to tap the archaeological record that is here.

"We think there are an awful lot of sites that can be done," he said.

"Even if we don't find anything, we know that the site is clear and we can say to the bank that they can go ahead and build.

"The Corporation and the Preservation Authority are very keen to do this sort of thing."

Peering expectantly into a trench yesterday, Dr Horton was in no doubt about the significance of what he might find.

"St. George's is a now a World Heritage Site and the implications are that its importance is international.

"Clearly, anything we find here is not just of interest to Bermuda, but is world-wide," he said.