A broad, deep ditch ran west-north-west to east-south-east for a distance of some 70m, crossing much of the width of the northern side of the excavation area and extending outside it to the west. The earliest date for this feature came from seven mid to late Iron Age sherds retrieved, with several redeposited flint artefacts, from basal fill in one section, excavated across the centre of the exposed length of the ditch. The ditch as exposed in this section was 5.20m wide and 1.30m deep: it was the only excavated section in which the site recording showed no possible recut, although a marked variation in colour between the lowest fill and the three overlying fills, as well as the presence of a scatter of pebbles at the horizon between one fill and an overlying fill, may nonetheless indicate that the lowest fill had been deposited in different conditions and potentially at a different time.

It is possible that the Iron Age ditch was interrupted or discontinuous: the earliest cut of the ditch appeared to terminate or be interrupted approximately 15m from the eastern limit of excavation, ending in a northward curve, although the presence of a recut, a later ditch and a furrow in this area made its layout and stratigraphic sequence difficult to trace. The lowest fill in the earliest ditch cut at the eastern end produced no dating evidence, although pottery dating to AD150 or later was retrieved from the fill above, as well as from the recut.

Towards the western side of the excavation area, a feature projected from the south side of the ditch and appeared to be cut by it, although a furrow had partially obscured the relationship and an excavated section failed to establish it and retrieved no dating evidence from either feature. Some 10m length of the feature was visible on the surface, and at 1.60m wide and 0.75m deep, it seems most likely to have been part of a ditch, possibly the earliest element of the ditch forming a southward curve corresponding to the northward curve of its eastern end. The position and alignment of the earliest cut of the ditch corresponded with that of a large, deep ditch recorded in the Phase 3 excavation, and its size and configuration were also compatible. The Phase 3 ditch was recorded as exceptionally broad and deep in comparison to other features in the Phase 3 works area, with one section measuring 3.46m in width and 1.14m deep: its irregular profile and the configuration of the fills within it suggest that it had been recut at least three times. The second fill from the base of this section contained a lens of charcoal-rich material, probably a single dump of refuse in the partially-silted ditch, from which 14 sherds of pottery were retrieved: much of the assemblage was only broadly datable as prehistoric, but some sherds resembled middle to late Iron Age Scored Ware (Savage et al., 2021).

The ditch which is thought to have originated as a continuation of the Iron Age ditch seen in the Phase 3 excavation area further to the west, was recut and remodelled during this period: the recut turned through a right-angle at the former eastern end of the ditch, running northwards out of the excavation area. The recut was least clear in one section, the only section to produce dating evidence for the Iron Age ditch, but is thought to be represented by a colour change in the fill sequence; the only later material retrieved from this section was a single Roman sherd from a second fill. This section gave the most reliable dimensions of the ditch, as it was closest to perpendicular: the ditch section was 5.20m wide and the three upper fills, thought to represent the mid-Roman recut here, totalled 0.90m deep. Close to the western limit of excavation, an oblique section excavated to a depth of 0.50m to confirm the alignment of the ditch identified two cuts: thirteen sherds of late 2nd- to early 3rd century pottery, including a piece of mortarium, and a redeposited Neolithic flint knife were retrieved from the fill of a recut. The nearby section also showed two cuts: the mid-late Iron Age ditch here is thought to be represented by an adjacent, truncated feature with a cut and a narrower, shallower recut forming a later remodelling of the ditch as continuous and on a slightly different alignment, and if this interpretation is valid, then two sections are also both likely to be Roman in date, as the Iron Age ditch would have been absent there.

The Roman element of ditch turned northwards at the point where the Iron Age ditch is thought to have terminated, and was exposed for a length of approximately 25m, continuing outside the northern limit of excavation. A section through the northern arm of the ditch showed it to be smaller than the east-to-west arm overlying the Iron Age ditch: one section was 2.60m wide and 0.51m deep, with a still narrower and shallower recut. Two fills were recorded in the ditch section: while the shallow lower fill was undated, a very large assemblage of mid-Roman pottery was retrieved from an upper fill. The assemblage consisted of 194 sherds, including sherds from a Verulamium region mortarium and the only group of dark-surfaced grey wares found in this excavation area, and was dated to the early to mid-2nd century. The recut produced a later Roman date.

R. D. Savage and L. Brocklehurst, 2025, Phase 5 Works at Fairham Pastures, Land East of Nottingham Road, Clifton, Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire: Scheme of Archaeological Mitigation (Evaluation and Targeted Excavation) Combined Report (Unpublished document). SNT6071.