The archaeological features within the footprint of Townhouse ‘Row B’ were covered by a piling mat within minutes of being exposed and were, therefore, not excavated. The scale of the work undertaken means that it is not possible to say for certain what these features represent; the ?post-holes may have been parts of buildings or fence lines, the ?linear features may have been field boundaries or enclosure ditches, and the ?pits could have been used for the disposal of industrial and/or domestic waste. Furthermore, one feature may have been an oven and two others could have been pyre-related features.<1>

Pottery sherds from some of the features may suggest domestic activity in the vicinity, whereas the fired clay and slag indicates that some light industrial activity was occurring on or around the site. Based on the pottery-dating evidence, the activity at The Meadows site has been dated to the period of the mid-late 1st century BC to the AD mid 1st century.

Archaeological features and finds dating to this period were also identified in four trial-trenches excavated to the east of The Meadows site during the ECC FAU evaluation in 2004. Together, these findings suggest that there was probably a rural settlement, perhaps a farmstead, located in this area during the Late Iron Age.