A single evaluation trench was excavated on the proposed site of a large residential development. A 1.5m wide x 24.3m long east-west trench was excavated by machine across the highest point of the site. Formerly a games court, the underlying stratigraphy was generally consistent throughout the length of the trench. The tarmac surface of the court overlay a dark brown loamy sand which constituted a disturbed and partly re-deposited topsoil. Beneath this was a yellowish brown loamy sand which represented undisturbed subsoil. This in turn overlay the natural sand. Five small pits dug into the subsoil were explained as the result of metal detecting activity. <1>