The final season of excavation by D Calow for the Roman Studies Group of SyAS revealed a small pit filled with burnt flint, pot and charcoal radiocarbon dated to the Late Bronze Age. A north/south ditch 6m to the east contained a few small sherds of flint-tempered pottery and charcoal of very similar date. In total c 50 fragments of Late Bronze Age pottery were recovered, most of it redeposited in Roman features, suggesting there was Late Bronze Age activity in the vicinity.

Excavation by A Haslam of PCA targeted three areas of the site, identified following earlier evaluation (SyAC 99, 218). Area 1 was situated in the south-western corner of the site. It revealed two parallel, north-west/south-east orientated ditches, interpreted as a droveway, and a series of small pits and postholes that formed a sub-rectangular enclosure, possibly an animal pen or paddock, to their east. All were of probable Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age date. A further sub-pen was identified within the south-eastern corner of the enclosure.

Excavation by A Haslam of PCA of 1m2 test pits across a colluvial deposit that covered the site, and previously identified during a programme of evaluation (SyAC 99, 218), produced c 7000 pieces of Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age struck flint. The bulk of the assemblage dated from the later Bronze Age to the Iron Age and may derive from middening practices spanning those periods. Although redeposited, the flint assemblage clearly represents all stages in the reduction process, from the preparation of raw materials through to the manufacture, use and discard of tools.

Survey undertaken under the direction of C Currie of CKCA, as part of the Community Archaeology Project, for SCC and SyAS, to assess whether the study area should be designated as an ASHLV. Both documentary research and fieldwork added greatly to existing knowledge and confirmed the reports of later 19th century antiquarians who had identified extensive prehistoric and Roman activity in the area.

Evaluation by S Reynish of COT revealed a number of ditches and a possible pit or tree-throw hollow. The larger ditches were aligned parallel to existing field boundaries, which could suggest these are former field boundaries, with the smaller ditches as internal drainage gullies or enclosures. For the most part these features remained undated, and the only find recovered – a Late Iron Age or Romano-British loomweight fragment – was considered to be residual.

Magnetometer survey by A and D Graham of SyAS revealed two possible tile kilns, lying parallel, although slightly offset to each other and both measuring c 7m long. (Bulletin 450)

Watching brief by A Macintosh of CAT (Canterbury Archaeological Trust) revealed a single, broad ditch of possible Roman date. During these works, the exposed walls and sunken area within Room O of the nearby Roman villa were protected by covering with inert sand, a geotextile membrane and topsoil, to a total depth of 0.5m.

Evaluation by G Webster of ASE revealed six ditches, two pits, and an irregular deposit. One of the ditches contained medieval pottery, another Late Iron Age pottery, which was considered to be residual; all the features and the irregular deposit contained slag, which suggests the presence of a medieval metalworking site in the vicinity. A subsequent strip, map and sample identified three phases of activity on the site. The earliest evidence dates from the Late Iron Age/early Roman period, with linear features representing a field system and a potential routeway.

Watching brief by J Condliffe of WA. To the east of Whitehill Lane, a series of eleven postholes on an east–west alignment associated with a large quantity of ceramic building material was identified. This north-west corner of the field is shown on OS maps up to 1897 as being a brick quarry and the posthole alignment probably indicates the line of the boundary fence that surrounded it. To the west of Whitehill Lane, a pit cut by a large posthole was revealed. Each feature contained two sherds of highly abraded Iron Age pottery.