Test pitting in 2024 had found evidence of a large number of Roman iron bloomery furnaces have been operating in the field. The aim of the 2025 test pitting was to confirm the extent of this activity and, if possible, find firm dating evidence Evidence was found that iron bloomery smelting was happening across the field. Carbon dating of some charcoal lying in a scatter of tap slag produced a date of 971=/-29 BP, showing that smelting had continued past the Roman period
Mike McQueen (Thu,) studied this question.