Archaeologia Cantiana Vol. 88 1973 page 132

A small excavation against the foot of the north wall showed that the medieval foundations project slightly from the inner face of the existing wall which stands upon them. Another excavation against the terrace wall on the line of the south arcade revealed a patch of medieval tiled floor, 2 ft. deep (Plate IIB). Adjoining, a north-south line of triangular tiles set on edge marked the riser of a destroyed step against which the tiles had been vertically set.⁴ This change of level may well have been related to the position of the central altar before the rood screen, and on this evidence it is tentatively concluded that this screen crossed the nave between the next pair of piers to the east-midway down the length of the nave. This would form the eastern limit of the lay brothers' quire occupying the western bays of the nave in accordance with Cistercian custom. The next one or two bays eastward would form the retro-quire, bounded on the east by the pulpitum from which the stalls of the monks extended into the crossing. THE PRESBYTERY Bordering three sides of the raised lawn now covering the area east of the nave are nine clipped yew-trees planted in times past to mark the foundations traced by Payne (Plate IA). They form the outline of a typical short square-ended eastern limb of the church, such as the Cistercians frequently		constructed before the relaxation of their customs in the late-twelfth and thirteenth centuries. To verify the traditional significance of these trees, we excavated between two in the eastern alignment and found, at a depth of 3 ft. 9 in., a massive rubble foundation marking the eastern limit of the church. The presence of flower beds prevented us from confirming the north and south walls in similar manner. The very rough sketch-plan made by Hubert Bensted and referred to by Elliston-Erwood⁵shows this presbytery and notes the presence of a tiled floor and remains of sedilia along the south wall. Nothing can be known about these features without more extensive excavation than the circumstances of our recent investigation would allow. Similarly, whether or not the presbytery was vaulted cannot be gauged without fuller examination of the deeply-buried remains. THE SOUTH TRANSEPT The outer walls were traced by trenching and the transept was found to extend further south than Elliston-Erwood conjectured. ⁴ A similar arrangement was observed in the north transept, as described below. ⁵ Now in the National Buildings Record. I am grateful to Mrs. Nesta Caiger for drawing my attention to this.
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