An archaeological watching brief during ground preparation for a self-built project was undertaken at Fishpool arm near Ravenshead, Nottinghamshire. This entailed the construction of a new single storey dwelling with an integral garage and a conservatory, and a separate L-shaped stable block set within a walled courtyard. Trenches about 0.65m deep and 0.65m wide were excavated by JCB using a toothed bucket for the foundations of the new house. The trenches revealed sections of clean red/orange to yellow sand and gravel material. In the northern part of the site this material consisted of fine to small grains of sand, with very few inclusions. To the south the grains were larger and included a higher percentage of pebbles, particularly in the upper part of the section. In some places it was possible to detect the clear boundary between the lower sand levels and the upper gravels. The foundaiton trenches for the new stabling was of similar size to those of the house. These, in the east part of the site, cut through ground built-up with debris from the demolished buildings. The sections here revealed brick, mortar, concrete and slate rubble, mixed with dark humic soil, possibly from the former farmyard. Only at the northern tip of this eastern area did the natural sandy neutral reappear. None of the trenches produced any archaeological material. The soils in the western part were consistently clean and undisturbed by even recent agricultural activity. The eastern part only revealed relatively modern building debris.