A watching brief was carried out in 1979 during the enlargement of a basement in Kingsbridge Villas, Best Lane. Part of a Roman street was observed and recorded during this work.
During renovation work on 14-15 Best lane and the construction of extensions to the rear of these properties, contractors cut into the Roman street running into Westgate and the Burgate. The trenches were observed by the Canterbury Archaeological Trust, but no excavation work was possible. Street metallings were exposed to a depth of c. 1m over an area 8m wide across the line of the Roman street, but no road edges were seen. This street forms one of the main NW to SE arterial routes through Canterbury and would have been up to 10m in width. At no point did the contractors trenches reach the base of the street metallings. A layer of fine loam covered the latest street metalling. This level produced a large block of Kentish ragstone c. 20 cm across, which lay on the street surface. The fragment may have come from the forum which lay to the SE of the street.