The excavation revealed the presence of high status Middle Saxon occupation with subsequent intensive settlement activity in the Late Saxon period. After the construction of the Cathedral in the 12th century the area is given over to burial, this ceasing after the original construction of the Processional Way possibly in the 13th century. The area is then effectively enclosed by cathedral structures with little apparent alterations during the 14th and 15th centuries. The Processional Way is demolished in the 16th century post-Dissolution period with major ground alterations occurring in the Victorian and Modern periods.