The site lies 0.4km northeast of Edwinstowe and 1.5km west of Ollerton. The proposed development lies within the National and Regional Character Area of Sherwood. Much of the northern part of the site is occupied by a large coal tip surrounding the buildings belonging to the former Thoresby Colliery, whereas the fields to the south are under arable cultivation. A trenching strategy, comprising 36 trenches measuring 50m long by 1.6m wide was agreed. In each trench, a tracked excavator fitted with a smooth ditching bucket was used to remove topsoil, subsoil and any underlying non-archaeological deposits in spits no greater than 0.10m thick. The process was repeated until the first archaeologically significant or natural horizon was exposed and all further excavation was carried out by hand. The stratigraphic sequence across the site did not show any significant variations, consisting of the natural geology overlain by topsoil. Five ditches and a pit were identified in five trenches. The majority of the linear features encountered remain undated, with the exception of two ditches, which on the basis of the pottery retrieved from a fill and the environmental sampling conducted, are possibly modern. All these features are likely to represent field boundaries. A pit, which contained likely hearth waste, testifies to limited activity taking place in the vicinity of site. Two sherds of Roman greyware provide a tentative date for the feature, but it is noted that the sherds are small and abraded and may be residual. The remaining 31 trenches were devoid of archaeological features, with a very small group of finds from topsoil contexts, comprising a single worked flint, a sherd of medieval pottery, a medieval fishing weight, and a post-medieval cloth seal.