Although medieval activity was more intense on the site than Anglo-Saxon and early medieval activity appeared to have been, it was still confined to the west side, with the serial reorganisation of the probable minster boundary along the western site edge and a particularly dense complex of medieval features in the north-west corner. The multiple intercutting of these features, exacerbated by the disruption caused by the groundworks for the construction of the school, caused considerable difficulties in interpretation, but the general narrative appears to be of a sequence of small post and beam structures, the earliest of which dated to the beginning of the Medieval phase and was probably contemporary with the boundary ditches cutting the cemetery, interspersed with several phases of repositioning of a boundary featuring either a large single or smaller double ditch, and the intermittent excavation of a sequence of pits. No indication of hearths was found, and the level of finds indicative of domestic activity, such as utensils and burnt or butchered animal bones, was low, suggesting that these structures were ancillary buildings on the minster estate rather than dwellings. The medieval pits in the north-west corner appear to be mainly large, shallow and flat-based, and the nature of their lower fills, where more than one fill was present, suggest that they were partially backfilled with upcast material, suggesting that they may have been for clay extraction; if so, it is possible that the pits were not back-filled with their own upcast, but that the upcast of each pit was deposited in an adjacent, previously worked pit. However, if the clay was being extracted to work into construction daub, it is possible that they were being dug for the construction of the adjacent buildings, and in this case it would clearly have been imperative that the pits were back-filled directly after excavation.

R. D. Savage and J. Sleap, 2015, Proposed Residential Development, Former Minster School Site, Church Street, Southwell, Nottinghamshire: Archaeological Excavation Report (Unpublished document). SNT5953.