The site is of round 2000 square metres lies at the eastern edge of the settlement, immediately north of Top Pasture Lane. The area is currently covered by grass but appears to have been under arable cultivation at some time in the recent past. Topsoil was removed from the westernmost of the two house-plots, using a tracked, 360º excavator fitted with a smooth-bladed 1.5m wide bucket.Features of potential archaeological significance were first cleaned by hand and then excavated within sample segments to ascertain character, extent and date. The programme of Strip, Map and Sample investigation on land off Top Pasture Lane revealed a ditch, aligned with a run of three shallow depressions found in the prior evaluation and interpreted as possible pits. From the results of the most recent phase of fieldwork, it would appear that the latter were most likely intermittent remnants of the ditch. The much larger ditch revealed in the northern part of the stripped area may be interpreted as part of an enclosing ditch surrounding an area of domestic occupation. ‘Native tradition pottery in the earliest phases of infill suggests an early Roman date, possibly mid or later 1st century, although a slightly later date cannot be discounted as the forms continued in use well after the Roman invasion , until at least AD120. The deliberate deposition of a horse’s skull in the terminal of the ditch is line with practices frequently observed on Iron Age sites, for example, at the Danebury hillfort, where special deposits of animal remains were found in many of the pits excavated on the site. These practices, which persisted into the Roman period, are generally seen as ritual in character. The reasonably large assemblage of pottery in the final phase of fill indicates abandonment in the period after AD120 and prior to AD180 (most likely before AD150). The terminal uncovered in the current trench would appear to have defined one side of an opening into the enclosure, which, given the absence of evidence for structural remains (such as drainage gullies or postholes) or other indicators of occupation such as rubbish pits may have been located on higher to the northwest of the trench. In light of the absence of evidence for a continuation of the recorded section of the ditch in an evaluation trench, it would appear that the feature must have returned to the southeast or, more likely, the northwest, at an intermediate point beyond the limits of the current area. The programme of Strip Map and Sample has confirmed the presence of Roman occupation in the area north Top Pasture Lane. The remains may form part of an individual farmstead or a somewhat larger nucleated settlement of the type identified at various locations in the Trent Valley.