Lancaster University Archaeological Unit has been asked to conduct an open area excavation on this site by J. D. Wetherspoon plc, before the building of a new pub. the site is thought to contain the remains of part of the nave and north transept of the church of the ancient Austin Friary that was founded in the 13th century The first excavations were made in 1886 , and burials below the the church floor are also expected. The site has been excavated a number of times since 1887, but little is or no information survives about some of the previous digs, and some areas have never been previously investigated. The aim of this investigation is to make a lasting record of the friary remains, and it is intended that a full report on the findings will be published. The large area now open appears to support a conjectural plan of the friary drawn in 1932. Much of the probable north wall foundation of the transept, has been exposed, together with foundations at the transepts north-west corner. A line of sandstone rubble and some in situ masonry represents the west wall of the transept returning to the north wall of the naive. The foundation of the north wall of the naive has also been found, in part re-used as the foundation of the brick north wall of the candle factory, demolished in 1931. The lower stone foundation is abutted by a floor of thick sandstone slabs, which appear to represent the intact remains of part of the naive floor of the friary church. Within the transept, four column bases are visible, two of which appear to have been previously exposed in 1887. The friary church is thought to have been built in the late thirteenth century