OXFORD BEFORE THE UNIVERSITY The Late Saxon and Norman Archaeology of the Thames Crossing, the Defences and the Town Edited by Anne Dodd with major contributions by Maureen Mellor, Julian Munby, Mark Robinson and David R P Wilkinson and contributions by Leigh Allen, Miranda Armour-Chelu, Alistair Barclay, Fr Jerome Bertram, John Blair, Paul Booth, Angela Boyle, Gregory Campbell, Jill Channer, Brian Durham, Blanche Ellis, Alison Goodall, Ian Goodall, James Greig, Jennifer Hillam, Cathy King, Julian Litten, Stewart Lyon, Arthur MacGregor, Peter McKeague, Richard Macphail, Nicholas Mayhew, Michael Metcalf, Peter Marshall, Dan Miles, Philip Powell, Nigel Ramsay, f Stuart Rigold, Fiona Roe, Nicola Rogers, Stephen Terry, Catherine Underwood-Keevill, Lucy Whittingham and Bob Wilson Illustrations by Luke Adams, Steven Cheshire, Lesley Collett, Erica Hemming, Paul Hughes, Sarah Lucas, Karen Nichols, Peter Larimer, Rosalyn Smith and Sam Whitby Oxford Archaeology Thames Valley Landscapes Monograph No. 17 2003
Contents List of Figures List of Plates List of Tables Acknowledgements Location of project archives vii xi xiii xv xvii xviii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION by Anne Dodd 01 The city of Oxford 01 The development of archaeology at Oxford Documentary sources, archaeological and historical societies 01 01 Early excavations TheOxenford 04 05 The contents and structure of this monograph 05 CHAPTER 2: SYNTHESIS AND DISCUSSION by Anne Dodd 07 Oxford before the burh 07 Neolithic and Bronze Age A prehistoric ford at Oxford? by David R P Wilkinson 07 10 The Iron Age Roman 10 11 Early Saxon An early Saxon crossing at Oxford? 12 12 The mid Saxon period The river crossing 13 13 Other mid Saxon evidence St Frideswide's minster 16 17 Mid Saxon Oxford: conclusions The late Saxon town 19 19 The defences The eastern extension by Julian Munby 21 24 Gates 25 The street grid 26 The burh interior: the form of the earliest occupation 29 The date and context of the burh's foundation 31 The Thames Crossing from the foundation of the burh to the Norman Conquest 32 Life in the developing late Saxon town 35 Buildings and street frontages: conclusions 40 Churches ; ;. 41 Suburbs 41 Crafts, industries and trade 42 Diet, natural resources and the environment 44 Norman Oxford: the aftermath of the Conquest in the later 11th century 46 The castle and the defences 46 Oxford in Domesday Book by Julian Munby 50 Occupation in the town: 'waste' and continuity 51 Revival under the Normans: the later 11th and 12th centuries 53 The Thames Crossing Revival from the later 11th century: the mid-road drain :, 53 56 Churches and religious houses in Norman Oxford 56 The King's Houses... 59 Oxford in the 12th century: the development of the town and its suburbs 59 12th- and 13th-century houses by Julian Munby 60 Suburbs 61 in
Oxford Before the University Crafts and industry in the 12th-century town 62 From town to university 63 CHAPTER 3: THE 'OXENFORD': DETAILED STUDIES OF THE THAMES CROSSING IN ST ALDATES by Mark Robinson and David R P Wilkinson 65 65 Introduction 65 The development of the Thames Crossing study area An idealised cross-section of the study area by Mark Robinson, 67 David R P Wilkinson and Paul Hughes 67 The palaeohydrology of the St Aldates area of Oxford in relation to archaeology and the Thames Crossing by Mark Robinson 69 A review of documentary sources for the south suburb by Julian Munby 82 Excavation reports 87 Excavations at 89-91 St Aldates (the Trill Mill Stream), 1982-5 by David R P Wilkinson 87 Excavations at 24-26 St Aldates (St Aldate's Police Station), 1987-9 by David R P Wilkinson 103 Excavations at 30-31 St Aldates (Land adjoining the Police Station), 1987 by David RP Wilkinson 108 Excavations at 56-60 St Aldates, 1988-9 by David R P Wilkinson 112 A Watching Brief on the British Telecom Tunnel, at the junction of Thames St and St Aldates, 1991 by Gregory Campbell Excavations at 42-43 St Aldate's (the Head of the River), 1994 by Paul Booth 118 127 CHAPTER 4: THE DEFENCES: DETAILED STUDIES OF SITES ON THE DEFENCES OF LATE SAXON AND MEDIEVAL OXFORD by Julian Munby and David R P Wilkinson 135 135 Introduction 135 The development of study of the defences by Julian Munby 135 Historical sources by Julian Munby 139 Excavation and building survey reports 140 Excavations at 24A St Michael's St, 1985 by David R P Wilkinson 140 St Michael at the Northgate Tower Survey, 1985-6 by Brian Durham, Julian Munby, John Blair and Anne Dodd 152 Excavations, survey and watching brief at the 'Oxford Story', Broad St (Bastion 4), 1986 by David RP Wilkinson 164 Excavations on the line of the City Wall in the Clarendon Quadrangle, 1899 by Julian Munby Excavations on the line of the City Wall at New College, 1993 by Paul Booth 172 183 Excavation and survey at Bastion 21, Corpus Christi College, 1981 by David R P Wilkinson 186 CHAPTER 5: THE TOWN: DETAILED STUDIES OF SITES WITHIN THE LATE SAXON AND MEDIEVAL TOWN edited by Anne Dodd 201 Background to the excavations and research objectives 201 201 Excavation reports 204 Introduction 204 Excavations at All Saints Church 1973-4 204 Excavations at four sites on the frontage of Queen Street 242 Excavations at No. 4 Queen St, 1986 245 Excavations at Nos 7-8 Queen St, 1985 Excavations at Nos 33-35 Queen St, 1988 247 254 Excavations at Nos 43-44 Queen St, 1989 254 Discussion Observations of the early streets: surfaces and drains 256 258 Early street surfaces The medieval mid-road drain or kennel 258 264 CHAPTER 6: FINDS 271 Finds from the Thames Crossing sites 271 Finds from the excavations at 89-91 St Aldate's by Leigh Allen and Brian Durham 271 IV
Contents Finds from the excavations at 24-26 St Aldate's, 30-31 St Aldate's and 56-60 St Aldate's by Leigh Allen and Brian Durham 276 Finds from the British Telecom Tunnel by Catherine Underwood-Keevill 284 Pottery from the Thames Crossing sites 288 Pottery from the excavations at 89-91 St Aldate's by Maureen Mellor 288 Pottery from the excavations at 56-60 St Aldate's, 30-31 St Aldate's and 24-26 St Aldate's by Catherine Underwood-Keevill 296 Pottery from the British Telecom Tunnel by Catherine Underwood-Keevill 301 Pottery from the Head of the River by Lucy Whittingham 302 Catalogue of illustrated sherds (89-91 St Aldate's, 56-60 St Aldate's, 30-31 St Aldate's, 24-26 St Aldate's) 303 The defences: finds from 24A St Michael's St and Corpus Christi Bastion 21 by Leigh Allen 304 Building stone from St Michael at the Northgate by Philip Powell 305 Mortar from 24A St Michael's St by Peter McKeague 307 The ceramic finds from sites on the defences by Maureen Mellor 307 Pottery from 24A St Michael's St 307 Pottery from the 'Oxford Story', Broad St 310 Pottery from Bastion 21, Corpus Christi College 310 Pottery from Pembroke College New Library, 1973 311 The town: finds from All Saints Church, 4 Queen St, 7-8 Queen St, 33-35 Queen St and the High St Surface Water Drain by Leigh Allen and Brian Durham 311 The Saxon and medieval ceramic finds from the town sites by Maureen Mellor 326 Pottery from 4 Queen St 326 Pottery from 7-8 Queen St 326 Pottery from 33-35 Queen St 335 Pottery from 43-44 Queen St 336 Pottery from excavations at All Saints Church 1973-4 336 Pottery from the High St Surface Water Drain '. 339 Discussion: the pottery used at the town sites 340 Catalogue of illustrated sherds (7-8 Queen St, 4 Queen St, All Saints Church) 343 Late Saxon pottery at Oxford: conclusions by Maureen Mellor 345 CHAPTER 7: THE ENVIRONMENTAL REMAINS 347 Animal bone reports 347 Introduction by Bob Wilson 347 Animal bones from the Trill Mill Stream by Bob Wilson 347 The faunal remains from 56-60 St Aldate's, 30-31 St Aldate's (Land adjoining the Police Station) and 24-26 St Aldate's (the Police Station) by Miranda Armour-Chelu 347 Bones from the rampart at 24A St Michael's St by Bob Wilson 359 Animal bones and marine shells from late Saxon levels at All Saints Church by Bob Wilson with fdon Bramwell 359 The bird bones from late Saxon deposits at All Saints by fdon Bramwell 361 Animal bones from 7-8 Queen St by Bob Wilson with Alison Locker 361 Animal bones from the High St Surface Water Drain by Bob Wilson 362 Mapping the household activity of early Oxford; the spread of domestic and other bone refuse by Bob Wilson 362 Environmental reports 365 Environmental investigations of the Trill Mill Stream by Mark Robinson 365 The pollen from 89-91 St Aldate's (the Trill Mill Stream) by James Greig 373 Environmental investigations at the Thames Crossing: 56-60 St Aldate's, 24-26 St Aldate's (the Police Station) and 30-31 St Aldate's (Land adjoining the Police Station) by Mark Robinson 374 Environmental investigations at the British Telecom Tunnel by Mark Robinson Pedological analysis of a sample of blue/grey clay 112 from the British Telecom Tunnel 378 by Richard I Macphail 383 Environmental evidence from 42-43 St Aldate's, the Head of the River by Mark Robinson Environmental evidence from 24A St Michael's Street by Mark Robinson 384 387 Environmental evidence from All Saints Church by Mark Robinson 388 Biological remains from the High St Surface Water Drain by Mark Robinson Tree-ring analysis of timbers from the Thames Crossing sites by Jennifer Hillam and Dan Miles 389 390
Oxford Before the University APPENDIX 1 393 Gazetteer of later Anglo-Saxon and medieval archaeological sites in the city centre 393 APPENDIX 2 417 Dating results 417 ABBREVIATIONS 427 BIBLIOGRAPHY 429 INDEX 437 VI