This paper presents the results of a project investigating both methodological and archaeological aspects of the monitoring of an active gravel quarry in Southern England. The site is probably the thickest accumulation of a single body of fluvial gravel in the UK and was known to contain occasional lower Palaeolithic artefacts. The thickness of the gravel and active quarrying pose particular problems in terms of monitoring and archaeological investigations. We have used the site as an open-air laboratory for several new techniques including surveying and gravel characterisation using terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), photogrammetric granulometry and optically stimulated luminescence. The results of these investigations will be presented and put into context of the European lower Palaeolithic.