Second season of excavation led by H Sheldon of BC and J Cotton of EEHAS, on an area of higher ground overlooking the Roman settlement of Ewell and Stane Street and where traces of Roman activity were located in the 1970s. Four trenches were opened in a line running north–south between those excavated in 2006.

Archaeological work under the guidance of P Jones of SCAU and by N Branch of ArchS focused upon a dry valley (the hollow, as it was formerly described) visited repeatedly by Mesolithic communities that had been identified during previous evaluation at the quarry. The archaeological work consisted of geophysical survey, environmental sampling and excavation and was undertaken by professional, volunteer and student archaeologists.

Continuing excavation by G Hayman of SCAU in advance of mineral extraction. Two areas were excavated in 2005. The northern of the two areas lay immediately north of the area examined in 2004 that included a large number of ditches, waterholes and numerous small pits and postholes, producing substantial quantities of pottery and struck flint, of Middle Bronze Age date. This concentration of evidence did not extend far into the 2005 area. The features were almost exclusively of Bronze Age date.

Evaluation by R Lambert of SCAU revealed a number of features dating to the Bronze Age/Early Iron Age and suggestive of a field system, with evidence for a sustained period of occupation. Alluvial hillwash deposits revealed may have the potential to inform and reconstruct the prehistoric environment, while a ditch dating to the Early Roman period could suggest continued occupation on the site throughout the Iron Age. Several post-medieval features were also revealed.

Evaluation by J Stevenson of ASE. Brief continuation of the evaluation largely undertaken and completed in 2004; see the 2004 round-up (SyAC 92, 279) for details of the results.

Evaluation by E Glass of OA beginning in 2004 in advance of residential development. This has revealed evidence for concentrations of mainly Late Iron Age to Early Roman activity, with the potential for at least one settlement of Iron Age date existing in the areas examined. A low-density spread of features was encountered throughout much of the large area examined, suggesting landscape exploitation from the Iron Age through to the post-medieval period.

Excavation and further evaluation by J Stevenson of ASE following evaluation of the site in 2003. The excavation revealed seven large pits, two smaller pits, two postholes and a probable ring gully – all likely to be part of the Middle Iron Age settlement on the site. Elements of the settlement are very similar in nature to that excavated in the early 1960s by F A Hastings a short distance to the west, and to remains revealed during explorations in the grounds of Hawk’s Hill House in 1900.

Evaluation by S Holden of PCA revealed a single feature containing no datable material, and two parallel brick-built walls dated to the late 18th/early 19th centuries, which are likely to correspond to a building shown on the 1870 OS map. Evidence of prehistoric activity, in the form of possible struck flint and pieces of burnt flint, together with sherds of prehistoric, possibly Iron Age, pottery, was found residually across the site with artefacts of medieval and post-medieval date.

Continuing excavation by G Hayman of SCAU revealed further features of Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman date, as well as some of early medieval origin. Most features dated to the Bronze Age, and included ditches, waterholes, and numerous small pits and postholes. An area of concentration of pits and postholes is likely to have once been a Middle Bronze Age settlement, although no dwellings were recognised, and only one four-posted structure was identified.

Evaluation and excavation by J Robertson of SCAU, prior to residential development. The evaluation revealed five pits at the centre of the site, containing pottery of largely a Middle Bronze Age date, while towards the south of the site a further pit was dated to the Iron Age. Residual Neolithic pottery was also recovered, suggesting that the area had been a focus for prehistoric activity for a considerable period. Further excavation at the centre of the site revealed additional Middle Bronze Age pits, ditches and a waterhole, but no indication of structures.