The proposed development area is approximately 500m southwest of Southwell minster, to the south of Westgate and north of the Potwell Dyke. The agreed strategy comprised the excavation of three 15m long by 1.8m wide trenches within the footprint of the proposed new dwellings and access road. The trenches were located on site using a Leica GS08 RTK NetRover GPS. In each trench, topsoil, subsoil and underlying non-archaeological deposits were removed in spits no greater than 0.1m in thickness by a 360° tracked excavator, fitted with a toothless ditching bucket. The process was repeated until the first archaeological horizon or natural geology was exposed, whichever was encountered first. The trial trenching identified a number of features and deposits of archaeological interest. A series of north – south aligned linear ditches were exposed, running through all three trenches. It is likely that a ditch seen in the second trench, is the same feature seen in the third trench to its north. A continuation of a shallow ditch in the third trench was not apparent however, and it may be that this feature turns, terminates or has been truncated. Dating evidence was very limited, with both features in the first trench being devoid of dating. The features in the other two trenches produced small amounts of medieval pottery, along with animal bone and small amounts of hammerscale, indicative of small scale smithing. However the specialist notes that the tiny quantities recovered are potentially the result of no more than a day of smithing and may be dumped from elsewhere. Nonetheless, the evidence points to a generally medieval date for the features exposed. The north – south alignment of the ditches corresponds with a series of long thin property boundaries shown on historic maps of the site, dividing up the land between Westgate to the north, and the Potwell Dyke to the south. These boundaries may well represent the survival of medieval burgage plots, indicating planned development of this part of the town. Only a single undated gully in the first trench deviated from this alignment. As such it seems that the ditches represent subdivisions within these burgage plots. The only other feature of note was part of a brick structure exposed in the third trench. The location of this feature corresponds with a small building first shown on the 1938 Ordnance Survey map, which local knowledge records as an abbatoir. All trenches exhibited considerable evidence of ground raising, with a thick made ground layer in the first two trenches sealing a buried soil, with further possible levelling layers evident below this buried topsoil in the first and last trenches.