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A watching brief, and subsequent excavation, carried out by Cameron Archaeology in 2015 during groundworks for an electricity substation and underground cable recorded 29 burials. Two trenches were excavated, Trench 1 within the court, and Trench 2 along the Schoolhill frontage. A robber trench within Trench 1 may indicate the location of the east wall of the Blackfriars Church. The burials were found in two areas in Trench 1, east and southwest of the robber trench. Twenty-five of the burials were fully excavated. Those to the east were discrete, not cutting one another whilst those to the southwest were intercutting with multiple layers of burials. All of the burials were orientated (E-W or ENE-WSW), and were prone. Two had pillow stones beside the head. Ten of the burials were within coffins and wood-covered nails were recovered. One copper alloy pin was recovered from the mortar in the robber trench, No other objects were found in the graves and very little pottery and bone was recovered from the fills. There were few finds in the grave soil suggesting the area occupied by the Blackfriars (see also NJ90NW0041) had not been intensively occupied prior to their arrival. One burial was recorded in Trench 2 alongside the south side of the Art Gallery. Cut into the garden soil around this burial were two parallel wall foundations, 5m apart and constructed of large fieldstones bonded with lime mortar. These are thought to be post-medieval in date, the remains of the Old Grammar School (NJ90NW0226) recorded on the OS 1st edition map.
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