Soil sampling of two boundary banks by K Sargent, to try to establish whether podsolization of the soil had commenced before the banks were constructed, produced inconclusive results. One bank was found to consist of windblown sand, which had presumably built up against some kind of obstacle, and is not therefore a genuine boundary bank. Related work carried out in 1995 by I Ellis had indicated a change in vegetation from deciduous woodland to heath via arable cultivation, with a Tilia decline clear within the soil buried beneath one bank, suggesting it could be Bronze Age in date. This buried soil also showed signs of podsolization, indicating that soil quality was already deteriorating when the field boundary was built. A survey programme, led by J English of SyAS, to record this former field system - originally identified by Stuart Needham - has revealed that the system is more extensive than first thought.