When Robert arrives at a site

he goes round the outside edge; of - say a church - the graveyard.

he drops a piece of cloth every time his wires cross (note on the first time this may be a bit to one side of the actual spot - at this stage it is approximate). When walking his eyes are down (worrying about the unevenness of the "floor").

Then he repeats the process in the other direction but this time, when at a place the wires crossed, he steps to one side and walks a one yard square round the place; this enables two more occasions when the wires cross and then he has some idea of what he has found and its direction.

Then the circuit is repeated a bit closer. After a while the lines become clear. Great care has to be taken to clarify lines that cross one another. This is particularly difficult when a line crosses at a diagonal.

Finally, Robert notices where lines are in relation to the building or places in or entrances to the graveyard.
Then Robert enters the building and checks what lines are there and their relationship with aspects of the interior.

It is in these last stages that the surprises occur.

At Southwell Minster a line, that came through a random gateway into the churchyard and followed a path that ended at a blank wall, inside was found to cross a glass panel in the floor showing a wall of the original Saxon church and yes     it  was on the line

Later the history of the site is researched and further surprises are found.

At Westminster Abbey  a line crossing the abbey turned out to be on the back of the first apse; a later king had extended by adding a chapel to that end of the Abbey. Thus although the line, at first sight, had no significance, it in fact had great significance: the first building abutted it.

 

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