At 8/12 The Butts, an early Roman pit was followed by a stone surface, but this did not seem to be the road which would have been expected on this site. Both were cut by a large ditch which may have been part of the Civil War defences - similar ditches have been seen on sites to either side. At 14/24 The Butts, an ongoing watching brief has revealed a Roman stone-lined well.

A borehole investigation was recorded archaeologically at Newport St (the former bus station, now a car park). This type of archaeological recording is increasingly common, and is a cost-effective way of gaining a view through deep deposits with minimal disturbance to the remains. This site, which is in the Severn floodplain, has a very large depth of archaeological deposits (perhaps up to 7 or 8m), with Roman slag layers in some cases reaching 1.5m thick, and evidence of waterlogging. A full archaeological evaluation of this site is now underway, with several trenches open.

Evaluation in the centre of the Cathedral roundabout showed that, while much of the earlier archaeology had been removed by cellars, Anglo-Saxon and medieval deposits survived in between the cellars. At the Guildhall, a borehole investigation revealed about 5m of deposits, with evidence of Roman structures or demolition, post-Roman 'dark earth' cultivation soils, and medieval deposits including a possible floor.

Assessment of a 17th century building at 32/34 Lowesmoor has shown that this probably dates from the rebuilding of the suburb immediately after the destruction of the Civil War. The building contains many important features, including early stencilled wall decorations.

Two sites beyond the city centre have also proved interesting. Previous fieldwork has demonstrated the importance of the Perdiswell area in the Bronze Age and in the Roman and medieval periods. A watching brief at Perdiswell Young Peoples' Club proved the presence of a ditched enclosure which had been identified from aerial photographs - it is just visible as a dark line on the Worcester Photomap. So far the enclosure has not been dated, as there are virtually no finds, which means that it is most likely to be either prehistoric or Anglo-Saxon in date. Meanwhile, a large evaluation on the site of a proposed Park & Ride car park at Whittington Road did not find any of the expected medieval features, but instead a scatter of flints indicating Mesolithic occupation.

2004 is a big year for publications on Worcester. Already out is the final report on Nigel Baker and Dick Holt's research on the church and town planning - Urban growth and the medieval church: Gloucester and Worcester. Their work has already provided the underpinning for archaeological research into medieval Worcester for over a decade, through a paper drawing on this project and the results of the Deansway excavations which was published in Antiquity in 1992. Later in the year, the Deansway excavation report itself will appear. Titled Excavations at Deansway, Worcester, 1988-89: Romano-British Small Town to Late Medieval City, this massive publication will be a benchmark for the study of Worcester's development up to around 1600. Together, the two reports will help to take research into the city's past on to a new level.

Worcester City's Historic Environment Record is now staffed - Sheena Payne was appointed as the city's first Historic Environment Record Officer in November, with a remit to develop the record and make it more accessible to the public. Sheena can be contacted at archaeology@cityofworcester.gov.uk, by phone on 01905 361824, or by writing to Worcester City Historic Environment Record, The Commandery, Sidbury, Worcester WR1 2HU.

Work on the Worcester Urban Archaeological Strategy project continues, with a launch event planned at the Guildhall on April 26th. So far the work has concentrated on the landscape and deposit characterisation, and on drafting period statements for the summary research framework. Reports on all of these will be available through this website.