Barford + Co. are gathering information on Land North of Newmarket Road, Royston, Hertfordshire, in support of a planning application for development for housing. The proposed development area (PDA) lies at the eastern edge of Royston, centred on grid reference TL 3689 4120. In total, it measures c. 17ha in extent, although the net developable area below the 80m OD contour is around 11ha. Twenty-five trenches were excavated; their distribution was designed to achieve an even coverage of the PDA. The overburden consisted of a loose chalky silt ploughsoil geneally around 0.3m thick. Subsoil was found in some trenches, consisting of a thin (c. 0.1m) layer of light yellow brown chalky silt with chalk fragments. Archaeological features were identified in only 10 of the 25 trenches. All of the dateable features (primarily field boundaries) were post-medieval (1500-1750) or modern (1750 onwards) in date. Undated features consisted of: a shallow gulley in Trench 22; an irregular chalk-filled feature in Trench 8; a NE-SW aligned ditch, crossing Trenches 7 and 10; two small pits in Trench 17; and two large pits in Trenches 8 and 24. All the features identified in the trial trenches are of low archaeological significance and have no potential to address the published archaeological research objectives for the region. The results suggest a low potential for significant archaeological remains within the PDA.