Evaluation by R Poulton of SCAU in advance of office development indicated that any evidence of settlement prior to modern times is likely to have already been removed by recent disturbance. The thick layer of flooded deposits revealed suggests that the area may have been outside the gravel island which enabled the development of both the town and Abbey.
Evaluation by J Stevenson of SCAU prior to industrial redevelopment. Phase I trial trenching revealed no finds or features of archaeological interest. Phase II will take place early in 2001.
Watching brief carried out by M Dover of SCAU on stripping of area in advance of mineral extraction. Ditches, probably belonging to a field system, were traced in several locations. Pottery recovered was of later Bronze Age date, and in one area was of a sufficient quantity to suggest a settlement site in the near vicinity. Further work is planned.
Evaluation by M Dover of SCAU prior to commercial redevelopment. Much of the site was shown to have been terraced, although a single ditch of probable prehistoric date was revealed.
Evaluation by H Knight of MoLAS in advance of a new office development. No finds or features of archaeological interest were revealed by trial trenching, which showed that the site had been extensively quarried in the late 19th-early 20th centuries. However borehole testing elsewhere suggested that part of the site may still retain undisturbed soil horizons of possible archaeological significance.
Watching brief carried out by N Shaikhley of SCAU revealed that part of the site had already been disturbed by previous development activities, but within exposed areas that had not been subject to past development, no archaeological features and finds were identified.
Evaluation by J Stevenson of SCAU prior to the creation of a new “heathland style” golf course. No finds or features of archaeological significance were revealed. A subsequent watching brief discovered only a few pieces of calcined flint. Fieldwalking by A Allen, a local archaeologist, did lead to the discovery of sherds of pottery and tile of late Roman date in one area. The stripped area adjoining the find site was examined, but no features relating to occupation were found.
A watching brief maintained by J Stevenson of SCAU revealed several pieces of burnt flint and a flint scraper, but no features of archaeological interest.