A trial trench excavated on the north edge of the vacant plot at 96, High Street revealed Roman masonry (5.7m wide north-south) at 2.0m below modern ground. The depth below modern ground and the flat top of the exposed masonry suggest that the trench position actually coincided with the passageway through the centre of the gateway to the Temple of Claudius. There was some damage to the north edge of the masonry, and the modern nature of the deposits sealing the Roman masonry suggest that the excavated layers may simply be the soils tipped back into Rex Hull’s 1931 excavation trench. It is possible that one of the excavated soil layers is part of the Norman bank built over the top of the partially-demolished Roman arcade when the castle earthworks were being created. <1> A second stage of trenched evaluation was undertaken in July 2006. <2>