Monument record MNL 598 - Roman, Land Adjoining Smoke House Inn, Skelton's Drove, Beck row,

2008: an archaeological evaluation carried out in advance of residential development on land adjoining the Smoke House Inn and Skelton's Drove, Beck Row, identified a substantial phase of Late Iron Age/Roman occupation. The dense spread of features, consisting of a network of ditches and scattered pits, is clearly an extension of the contemporary activity seen at the adjacent excavated site to the north, MNL 502. An absence of features in southern trenches indicated a probable south-eastern boundary to this area of occupation. Further excavation in advance of development has been recommended (S1).
Excavation identified networks of ditches forming a variety of enclosure systems, field boundaries or drainage networks were identified, together with a dense scatter of large pits which were possibly used for grain storage. The presence of at least one possible timber building was indicated by a linear series of postholes. A substantial finds assemblage, dating from the late prehistoric period to the 3rd century AD has been collected (S2).