Archeological excavations carried out in 1981 to the south of the present village revealed the site of a Romano-British settlement. Evidence for iron smelting was found, along with kilns and coins dating from the late 3rd century. There is also evidence of a Roman road crossing the southern part of the parish and through the settlement. The settlement site was destroyed when around eight million tonnes of coal were extracted by opencast mining between 1982 and 1996. The area has since been returned to open fields and is now known as the Sence Valley Forest Park.