The excavations to the east of Southam Road, sponsored by Bellway Homes Limited, formed the final phase of a programme of archaeological work undertaken by Wessex Archaeology between 2011 and 2015, prior to the development of the land for housing called Hanwell View. A desk-based assessment was initially carried out, followed by geophysical survey which identified a large subcircular enclosure in the south-east of the site, along with other anomalies of potential archaeological interest and linear trends from ridge and furrow. Subsequent trial trenching uncovered ditches, gullies, pits and postholes in twenty-five of the fifty-five excavated trenches. Though most features did not yield datable finds, a Neolithic pit containing a large quantity of Grooved Ware pottery was excavated, along with several ditches and gullies, which produced small amounts of Bronze Age and Romano-British pottery, as well as worked flint. A trench targeted on the south-west quadrant of the large subcircular geophysical anomaly revealed a ditch containing middle Bronze Age pottery, though the evaluation did not identify the eastern extent of the predicted enclosure.

Following consultation with the Planning Archaeologist for Oxfordshire County Council and archaeological advisor to Cherwell District Council, a mitigation strategy proposing five separate excavation areas (A–E) was approved. The excavation was undertaken between February and March 2015 during challenging weather conditions, including rain and snow. An initial assessment of the excavation results, incorporating proposals for further analysis and publication, was produced in September 2015.