Limited excavation revealed part of the northern range of the forum of the Roman town of Isurium Brigantum, first excavated in 1770. It confirmed the accuracy of the eighteenth-century plans, and the trench showed that occupation began in the A.D. 70s, with evidence for timber structures facing the road from York. The forum was constructed as part of a larger programme of town planning c. A.D. 120. There is evidence for changed use of the building with industrial activity in the later fourth or fifth century