A watching brief was undertaken in March, 1993 when Southern Water excavated a trench less than a metre square in order to deal with a mains water pipe leak. The trench was located in the Parade, outside no 6 The Parade (Boots the Chemist).

Most of the sides of the trench consisted of modern backfill, but the southern side, beneath 0.70m of modern surfaces and brick rubble, contained a series of light pebble and gravel metallings, separated by layers of gritty silt, containing many fragments of Roman tile, painted plaster and opus signinum. The metallings became slightly heavier beneath 1.00m below the modern road surface and appeared to continue down beyond the bottom of the trench (1.40m deep). Only a brief inspection was possible in the few minutes available that the trench was accessible for examination, but no pottery or bones were apparent.

The metallings lay approximately 12m from the corner of Mercery Lane and the Parade, immediately to the south of an EW Roman wall recorded during the excavation of a sewer tunnel in 1982. The brick rubble may have been deposited in the 18th century AD, when St Andrew's Church was removed following its existence since at least the 12th century AD. The metallings could not have been Medieval in date, therefore, but could have been Anglo-Saxon, especially the lighter upper layers. The presence of much Roman building material suggested a purely Anglo-Saxon date range, but it seemed likelier that the lower deposits at least were earlier. The surfaces observed and recorded might have represented a Roman courtyard, but could also be interpreted as Roman street metallings.

Pratt, S., 1993, 6 The Parade (Article in serial). SKE30547.