Re-development of the site to make way for modern office blocks, has required the demolition of the existing buildings. 

Following its assessment of the geotechnical and environmental issues associated with the proposed re-development, Howlands were awarded the contract to undertake the evaluation trenching and have opened a number of pits to a maximum depth of 6 m to recover material back to the earliest period of the site. 

Almost immediately the exercise unearthed a number of skeletons of women and children and has shed new light on the history of this part of the City.  Initially, stray bones were thought to be a possible murder victim, but detailed archaeological assessment, as full skeletons have been uncovered, has determined that this is not the case.  At present the best assessment is that they are as late as 18th Century and that they may represent the poor burials of workhouse inmates.

The finds have proved to be in an excellent state of preservation and even the coffin nails were found.  Parts of the skeletal material will be removed for detailed analysis, but the remains will be re-buried with full dignity, possibly back on the same site.

Other finds include sections of medieval walling, which was probably part of the priory.  During the 13th Century the area would have been low lying marshland outside of the main City boundary.  Detailed evaluation of the wall sections has given a useful insight into the construction methods used on poor ground.  This new information complements the understanding of the Priory site, which was previously known mainly from a few sections of standing masonry on the site.  Even these have been assessed under Howland’s contract to ensure that no part of the historical legacy is lost by the re-development.

 Environmental assessment of the underlying natural sediments will ensure that the history of the site will be understood right back to the Ice Age, when meltwaters from the ice sheets to the north ripped through the area in great torrents of water.

 Urban archaeology of this type is always difficult.  In this instance, interplay between the archaeological team and the active demolition of the buildings has been an exemplar of inter-disciplinary activity.