The watching brief was maintained in two stages. The first took place on 22-23 November 2023 and covered the excavation of the 0.7m-wide and 1m-1.2m deep foundation trenches for the extension, along with the 'oversite' and other soil stripping. Cathy Keevill monitored this work. The second stage, on 9 May 2024, covered the excavation of a new rainwater soakaway c 6m diagonally out from the south-west corner of the new extension, and the drain trench to it. The pit was c1.8m long (north-east to south-west), 1.1m wide, and 1m deep. The trench was only 0.4m deep against the extension, but a slight rise in the garden level (and the obvious need to maintain a fall) meant that it was c 0.75m deep where it entered the pit. Graham Keevill carried out this part of the watching brief. A compact clay and gravel layer found at the base of the trenches was probably natural (superficial geology). A layer of possible alluvium above this had been cut by a feature near the south-east corner of the new extension. This may have been Roman, and pottery of this date was recovered from the layer above it. It was the only archaeological feature revealed during the excavation. The overlying layers were largely or all horticultural soils, reflecting the historical orchard use of this area. The mass concrete foundations for the previous extension were found over much of the area: they were 1m deep, and no archaeological evidence was recorded within their footprint. No post-Roman, medieval or post-medieval artefacts were present, and even 19th-century material only comprised a few pot sherds (not retained). It seems likely that the site had been disturbed to a significant extent during construction work in the late 1960s and early 1990s.
Keevill et al. (Mon,) studied this question.