An undated note in the Museum SMR states 'Some years ago when the construction of this building was commenced, I observed in the South East corner of the site what appeared to be a buttress of red brick. At the time the site had been excavated to a depth of about twelve to fourteen feet or more, but the brickwork seemed to go deeper, then receded beneath the untouched part towards Chapel Street. At the time I was in the company of a local builder, who know the area well. He was of the opinion that it was too deep to be the foundation of a recent development, but what probably had happened was that the later building had been built on the foundations of an earlier building. We both agreed that it gave the appearance of being a brick buttress to some sort of gate. The brick appeared to be 1600-1700 in date, it could well have been built on the foundations of an earlier building. . It may have only been the situation, but we got the impression that chapel Street appeared to be the road to a gate. I have since learned that the lands of St John's Abbey did not extend this far, as far as is known. Chapman and Andre show this area as being more or less Nursery Land in 1779, and later guides do not mention anything of an historical nature here. It is perhaps interesting to note the lie of the land here, Chapel Street rises steadily to a ridge formed by South Street, this ridge running at right angles to Chapel Street and continuing parallel with Wellington Street, crossing Butt Road to link up with present excavations at the Maldon Road Roundabout. This may be a natural ridge, on the other hand it may not. The matter was not reported at the time because it was not clear as to what action members of the public might take, and it was that probably the Museum authorities had their own scouts. At the time the builders on the site were somewhat hostile to inquisitive members of the public. From Chapman and Andre's map it would appear that an ancient greenway containing a road existed where Alexandra Road is now, and the ridge may well follow this 'Green Lane' <1>