A watching brief was undertaken during groundworks on land to the rear of the former Mill Hotel in 2003. This was followed by an evaluation by trial-trenching (5 trenches) in 2005 prior to residential development to the north-east. The evaluation indicated that the course of the millrace of East Mill was formally through the western part of the development site, to the east of the river’s present course: river-borne silts and a timber revetment were observed in one of the trenches, and the grille across the former millrace was encountered in another trench. Three waterlogged timbers recorded in a pit dug for the manhole during the watching brief may be part of a building or other structure which stood behind the property immediately east of the mill. The evaluation confirmed the existence of a substantial depth of modern dumped material in the western and northern parts of the development site. Natural ground was not reached in all areas. The archaeological investigation related to redevelopment scheme, to convert the Mill Hotel to apartments and construct 54 flats to the rear of the building (CBC planning application F/COL/01/1848). <1>