Archaeological evaluation carried out in 2003 found a linear feature thought to date from the Iron Age or Roman period. The feature comprised a steep-sided flat-bottomed ditch, appearing to cut the natural subsoil to a depth of 0.70m. The ditch contained a sequence of 5 fills. The first of these fills contained a single sherd of flint tempered Iron Age pottery; the second fill contained Late Iron Age, Belgic, and later 1st century AD Roman pottery. The third fill may represent the fill of a shallow recut of the ditch, or a deliberate infill of the original ditch; this contained charcoal and later 1st to early 2nd century AD pottery. The upper fills represented deliberate infilling/disuse of the ditch and contained late 1st-mid 2nd century pottery, alongside fragments of animal bone, small fragments of struck flint, and Roman brick and tile. Another layer associated with the ditch may represent a disturbed upper fill or truncated earthen bank, this deposit contained pottery dating to the late 1st century BC to early 1st century AD.
Overlying the ditch and deposits was a layer of clayey silt 0.45m thick which has been interpreted as representing an agricultural soil, developed in the late Roman period and continuing into the post-Roman period. The layer contained fragments of prehistoric, Roman and post-Roman pottery, alongside metal slag/bloom.
The ditch may have been an agricultural feature; pre-Roman occupation is known around 200m south of Orchard Street, comprising hut circles, ditches, and cremation burials. The association of later 1st century BC pottery with the feature suggests that it may have been created in the later Iron Age period, and continued in use into the Roman period. Evidence for Roman occupation in the vicinity of the site includes a cremation and inhumation cemetery, and an extra-mural, semi-industrial suburb established in the early 2nd century AD.
Later activity at the site was associated with the early 19th century construction of properties fronting St Dunstan's Street. This included pit digging, and the construction of a wall associated with the properties. (1)
A linear feature in the form of an Iron Age ditch is mentioned as being located in the Orchard Street area by a later report on a nearby site, however it is unclear if this linear feature is the same as that associated with this monument (2).

<1> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 2003, Land to the rear of 53/54 St. Dunstan's Street, Canterbury. Evaluation report. (Unpublished document). SKE55046.

<2> Canterbury Archaeological Trust Ltd, 2016, Station Road West Car Park, Canterbury, Kent Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment Report (Unpublished document). SKE52686.