During sand quarrying along the western side of Butt Road in the mid-19th century, part of an extensive late Roman inhumation cemetery was found. William Wire recorded the discoveries and wrote that included in the large number of objects discovered were some spearheads, knives and arrowheads; he also referred to part of the area being a 'Saxon burial ground' unfortunately he did not state specifically his evidence for this conclusion. Wire sketched two of the spearheads and one (8ins. long) appears to have a rib running up the centre (Swanton's type B) - a feature found on Germanic spearheads of the 4th and 5th centuries. The other spearhead is a leaf-shaped form 12ins. in length, probably Swanton's type K1. Wire also illustrated two knives; one dated to the 7th century by Mrs S.C. Hawkes. In March 1844, a bronze buckle was found in the quarry, probably late Roman in date. During 1976 and 1977, archaeological excavations took place at Butt Road on the strip of land formerly occupied by the row of houses known as Mill Place. The area is immediately adjacent to the sand pits visited by Wire. The burials (691 in total) were judged to be Roman inhumations belonging to the period c.AD 320-40 on into the fifth century.<1>