In 1971 four trial trenches were dug in the north east corner of the Abbey grounds before building work began on a new roundabout. Trenches 1 and 2 were excavated by machine and revealed several metres of dumped soil and debris behind the abbey's precinct wall. This re-deposited material accounted for much of the 5m difference between the ground levels on either side of the wall. Trenches 3 and 4 were partly dug by hand and contained inhumations aligned east - west and associated with pottery dating to the late medieval period at the earliest.<1><2>