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An archaeological excavation was undertaken by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit at No.'s 4-5 Castle Street, Cambridge, between the 14th and the 25th of November 2011. Despite extensive 19th-20th-century disturbance, 1st-4th-century Roman deposits and features - including a well constructed cobbled surface - survived under the basements. In the rear yard a 3.3m deep stratigraphic sequence spanning the 12th/13th-20th centuries was present with features including a large 12th-13th-century quarry pit, a 14th-15th-century oven and a 16th-17th-century garden/horticultural soil, all features typical of the rear yard area of an urban plot. In the 17th-century a building with a substantial cellar was constructed; this remained in place until the current standing buildings were erected in the mid 19th-century.

Between the 16th of May and the 3rd June and between the 4th and 8th July 2011, the Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) undertook two areas of excavation within Neath Farm Business Park, Cherry Hinton, Cambridge. One area immediately adjacent to Church End Road revealed a densely packed sequence of linear ditches and gullies of 12-14th date as well as several discrete features and pits, a larger ditch of a 14th century date and possible associated structure. The second area, away from the road contained fewer features; a single linear ditch and four postholes, all of an undetermined date.

This archaeological desk top assessment was requested by Peter McKeown of Januarys on behalf of Charfront Ltd. to assess the likely impact of construction works at 130-132 Newmarket Road, Cambridge. Assessment of the available archaeological, historical and cartographic sources shows the site to be located within an area of rich historical and architectural significance in which the possibility of prehistoric, Roman and Anglo-Saxon activity also cannot be discounted. There are extant structural remains in the vicinity dating from the 13th century AD to the present. In particular, the site is situated within the core of the medieval village of Barnwell, which flourished as a lay settlement associated with nearby Barnwell Priory during the 12th to 15th centuries. By 1830 or earlier a series of domestic properties had been constructed at the site, either side of a central passage. Twentieth century impact on the site, however, seems relatively slight.

Between the 14th and 18th November 2011, The Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) undertook a watching brief of the insertion of a rabbit proof fence within Castle Acre Priory, Castle Acre Norfolk. The location of the fence, following the current Scheduled Ancient Monument boundary, was in an area of very high archaeological potential, coming within 2m of Priory buildings.

A test pit evaluation was conducted by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. This comprised a single test pit, measuring 1.0m by 1.0m in extent and 1.2m in depth, which was situated a short distance to the east of the college chapel. It was position targeted the location of a proposed tree-planting pit, with the intention of determining the presence/extent of any archaeological deposits prior to the commencement of additional works.

A watching brief was undertaken at New Court, Trinity College, Cambridge, between the 14th of December 2011 and the 12th of January 2012 (Figure 1). At this time a series of seven investigative trenches were excavated around the perimeter of the court (Figure 1). These were positioned in order to determine the layout and extent of the pre-existing services in advance of the proposed instillation of new sewerage and drainage works at the site. During the course of this work, a number of archaeological deposits and features were encountered.

From September to December 2011 a series of archaeological investigations were undertaken on land off Eastrea Road, Whittlesey (centred on TL 288 968) extending over c.32.2ha. The work was commissioned by Savills Ltd. for Whitacre Management Ltd. in response to a request from the Cambridgeshire Historic Environment Team. The investigations comprised an aerial photographic survey (Palmer 2011), a field walking survey, a geophysical survey (Bartlett 2011), and a trench evaluation. Later prehistoric activity situated on the eastern edge of Whittlesey was recorded. An Early Bronze Age ring ditch with central cremation was identified first on aerial photographs and then through trenched evaluation, whilst two small broadly contemporary pits were revealed in other trenches within the landscape. Towards the 'islands' edge were a series of Middle Iron Age enclosures and pits, which suggested two separate phases of human occupation. One part of the development site is designated a 'Country Park', and this was sited within an area of low-lying farmland between the 'islands' of Whittlesey and Eastrea. Although there was no evidence for ancient societies using or occupying this space, it was possible to record a series of marine and freshwater inundations, which spanned the Bronze Age through to the Late Iron Age/Early Roman period.

This archaeological desktop assessment has been commissioned by Pegasus Planning Group Ltd. on behalf of Persimmon Homes to better define the scope of archaeological interest of a 10.2ha site at Broomfield, to the north of Chelmsford, Essex. No known archaeological or historical sites occur within the Application Area, however, archaeological and cartographic evidence from the wider area does indicate at least a moderate potential for previously unrecorded archaeological remains. Significant archaeological sites dating to the later prehistoric, Romano- British and Saxon periods are recorded in the wider landscape and that unrecorded remains dating to these periods may exist within the Application Area cannot presently be ruled out. The Application Area is also located close to two greens, which appear to have been settlement foci since at least the medieval period, and associated archaeological remains could potentially extend into the site.

On Tuesday 24th January archaeological monitoring work was undertaken at the Village Hall in Swineshead, Bedfordshire in advance of the planned extension to the rear of the building. An area of approximately 14 square metres was excavated down to the interface between the subsoil layers and natural, but no archaeological features were found. However, two sherds of 12th-13th and 13th-15th century AD pottery were recovered from the upper subsoil layer, significant in that these are one of the very few bits of material evidence for Medieval settlement in the area of the High Street. At the base of the sub-soil some truncated fragments of a palaeosol appear to have survived which contains traces of strewn and perhaps redeposited burnt stone and charcoal, perhaps an indication of still earlier settlement.

Between the 16th and 19th January 2012, Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) undertook a programme of archaeological evaluation trenching within the grounds of Stanground College, Peterborough. A 200m of trench was excavated which contained no features of archaeological significance and demonstrated a high degree of truncation associated with the construction of the college in the 1960's.

An archaeological watching brief was conducted at the School of Pythagoras, St John's College, Cambridge, on the 24th of January 2012. At this time, a test pit was excavated against the northeast wall of the northern masonry wing of the building. This measured 1.32m by 0.62m in extent and was excavated to a depth of 1.0m. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the nature, extent and depth of the building's foundation.

The Cambridge Archaeological Unit ha been commissioned by Beacon Planning on behlf of Amin Underwriting Ltd. to carry out an archaeological desk based assessment of the Victoria Road site in Chelmsford, Essex (TL 70749 07120)