Yes, opencast mining is responsible for destroying vast amounts of archeology. I still fret that Chester House was dug up long before i ever had an interest in local history and metal detectors (with a name like that you just know there had to be tons of history there)
I can't remember if the actual field the Preceptory stands in was ever mined, and being pasture it's now hard to tell.
Thats a good point you make about a possible cemetary. I suppose there were a lot of outbuildings, gardens for produce, stables and pig-pens, etc. and i've never come across any archie digs on the site. The fence that now surrounds the buildings cannot be the actual boundary, so lets hope that everything hasn't been carted away.
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