The road improvements around the inner ring road of Derby (East Midlands, England) have led to the archaeological investigation of a number of sites over the past five years. These sites have included remains from the prehistoric, Roman, medieval and post-medieval periods, although the majority of the remains have related to the last 900 years. The work has allowed a picture of the development of the western side of Derby to be built up over the course of its evolution. In many respects the non-selective random nature of the development has allowed disparate sites in location, function and chronology to be examined in the same project in a way that would not have been achieved by targeted research led investigation.