A watching brief was undertaken by Colchester Archaeological Trust during the groundworks for a rear extension (5.2m E-W x 3.2m N-S) on the south face of the hall. This involved cutting footings trenches to variable depths, in between deeper pile supports. Generally, the trench was only 800mm deep. At two points where the trench had been cut to between 1.4m and 1.8m below slab level at the rear of the hall, human bones had been exposed. One consisted of a skull, apparently undisturbed, and two ribs and an arm bone which had clearly been thrown back into the hole by the builders on discovery (they were in loose soil and disarticulated). The other, apparently undisturbed, consisted of a pair of thigh bones. <1> The burials were aligned E-W and are clearly associated with St Botolph’s priory, which lies only a few metres south of here. By implication, they should not be later than the date of the Dissolution (1536-1541).