In 2010 a large area was excavated on land to the southeast of the Old Rectory by a team from the University of Reading. The area was occupied from the late 5th to the 7th century by four sunken featured buildings and a post-built timber hall. The post-built structure was 12.8m x 4.6m. It had been truncated by one of the sunken featured buildings at the western end. One of the sunken featured buildings had been backfilled with domestic refuse and, beneath this, an iron plough coulter was found. The backfills were deposited at some point between c. AD 580/600 and AD 640/660, although a slightly later date in the 7th century cannot be ruled out. The other sunken featured buildings also contained backfilled domestic refuse, with sherds of pottery and glass, brooches, pins and beads. One of the buildings was backfilled in the 8th-9th centuries AD. (1)

<1> Gabor Thomas, 2011, ‘Life before the Anglo-Saxon minster’: Interim Report on University of Reading Excavations at Lyminge, 2010 (Unpublished document). SKE25100.