Thatcham has seen sporadic, small-scale archaeological investigations since the early years of the 20th century. Recent work, reported in this volume, has added significantly to our understanding of the early development of settlement here. This monograph presents the results of small excavations at Turnpike School, at several locations on Bath Road, and at Church Gate, and summarises results of smaller watching briefs and evaluation trenching exercises.Among the prehistoric finds at the former Turnpike School, Newbury, there is rare evidence for late Neolithic occupation, including the skull of an aurochs, the huge ancestor of modern cattle. A late Bronze Age burnt mound shows occupation in that period too. On Bath Road, several minor investigations have confirmed the presence (in places) of the Roman road from Silchester to Cirencester, and showed occupation from the 2nd century AD to the 4th, stretching along the road for at least a kilometre. Similar evidence is also explored on the far side of Newbury, at Wickham House.Early to Middle Saxon pottery has also been recovered, although this provides only ambiguous evidence for occupation at this time. Finally, the site at Church Gate shows medieval evidence of land boundary ditches from the 12th and 13th centuries.