Rob, thanks mate! Looks like the mystery has been solved - the cumulative glow of individually invisible stars. This is what we pretty much see with the background glow of the Milky Way, and here it is on a much smaller scale.
Thanks mate,
I hope this has also served to prick up some interest in this very little observed/investigated galaxy. It has such a gorgeous name it really deserves more attention, especially for the challenge it also presents,