Archaeological investigation was carried out by Colchester Archaeological Trust in 2008, ahead of the expansion of the extraction area on the western side of the quarry pit.<1> The 2008 excavation was undertaken adjacent to the north and west of the areas excavated in 2007, in two areas (Area F and Area G) which were divided by an extant hedge line. Area G included part of an area showing a surface spread of Roman finds denoting a Roman settlement. The 2008 archaeological work initially consisted of a watching brief on 3.4 hectares from which the topsoil was being stripped. Archaeological features were only identified in Areas F and G, which between them encompassed a total of some 2.6 hectares; Area H was a separate area of about 0.8 hectares located about 300m to the west of Areas F and G (but no archaeological remains were defined in this area). The prehistoric period is represented by finds of ?Mesolithic, Neolithic, Middle Bronze Age and Late Bronze Age date. A few worked flints are of ?Mesolithic and Neolithic date, while a few sherds of pottery from one small pit can be dated as probably Neolithic. The finds of Middle Bronze Age and Late Bronze Age date are more substantial. Primarily of Late Bronze Age date, these finds were associated with a small number of pits and included pottery, a whole drum-shaped loomweight and a complete disc-headed bronze pin. The northern part of a Late Iron Age and Roman enclosure was located in the southern part of Area G. A droveway was added to the north side of the enclosure in the early Roman period. Within the enclosure, there was an oven with a tile-built flue (F329). The oven was situated back from the edge of the enclosure ditch, sufficient for an internal bank to have been present. Some probable early Roman sherds were associated with the oven while sherds from the fill could be dated to the mid-late and the late Roman period. The pieces of roof tiles used in its construction indicate a date after the mid 2nd century. Close to the oven, there was a large pit (F339) of late Roman date containing charcoal-rich layers which might have been associated with the oven. An environmental sample from the base of F329 contained a high density of spelt glume bases, possibly indicating that the feature was either used for cereal-processing (i.e. parching) or used processing waste as part of its fuel. There were several field ditches to the north and east of the enclosure, all aligned N to S, which probably originated in the early Roman period. An area of previously unknown medieval settlement and early post-medieval features was defined in Area F (to the east of Area G), comprising two or more small enclosures, defined by shallow ditches and postholes (some probably representing fencing) on the west side of a ditched droveway. These enclosures probably related to stock management. Some of the features could represent parts of one or more buildings, but there was no certain evidence for buildings or other structures. Several large medieval pits appeared to post-date one of the enclosures. The pottery from the medieval features spanned the period of the 11th/12th to 15th centuries, but most was of 12th- and 13th-century date. It was not clear if the quantity of early dated pottery represented a separate or more intensive phase of the settlement. A small number of pits and ditches of post-medieval date were located in a small part of Area F. Some of these, dated to the 16th-17th/18th centuries, related to the layout of the medieval features and settlement probably continued here into the early post-medieval period. Some of these ditches joined ditches which form part of the modern landscape. A significant change in the landscape took place in the 19th-20th centuries with a division into larger arable fields. The 2008 (Stage 4) excavations followed on from investigations to the south carried out between 2004 and 2007.<2><3>