Excavaton at Top Lane [on the north side] … was carried out to examine both the cause of the anomalies detected by geophysical survey and [to obtain] a representative sample area across the proposed development site. … Four trial trenches were excavated …excavation within each trench commenced with the hand digging of a series of 1m2 test pits, sited at 5m intervals along one edge. … to determine the depth of ploughsoil … the remaining ploughsoil in each trench was then excavated by machine. … in each trench … the base was shovelled and trowelled clean to the level of the natural … subsoil, or the top of archaeological deposits. In trench one only, limited excavation of the archaeological deposits was undertaken, to clarify their date and nature. (1) (2) See E9004 for geophysical survey.