| Abstract: |
In May 2013 Oxford Archaeology (OA) was commissioned by Dr Roland Harris to undertake an Archaeological Watching Brief during the hand-excavation, by other parties, of two engineering test pits (Test Pits 1 and 2) that were required to investigate the nature of the foundations of the extant Goodhart Building (1961-2), University College, Oxford.
Between September 2014 and April 2015 Oxford Archaeology undertook a programme of archaeological excavation and recording during renovations and alterations to The Goodhart Building, University College.
The excavation areas comprised new strip foundation trenches on the site of the recently demolished Goodhart Cottage, and a new lift shaft within The Goodhart Building itself. Two pits and a linear feature were encountered in Area 2. Pottery dating from between 1050 and 1250 was recovered from the linear feature, and it is possible that it represents part of the earlier property boundary. The linear feature had been truncated by a the north-west corner of a limestone-built structure. This may relate to a structure fronting onto the northern side of Kybald Street. Little evidence for the street itself was revealed.
In Area 1, deposits dating from 15th-16th century were discovered as well as a number of stone walls. A stone-lined semi-circular structure produced artefacts dating to 1740-1840 from its excavated upper fills, and a stone and brick structure in the northern arm of the trench almost certainly relates to a 19th-century cellar to the rear of the Angel. Phase 1: No geological gravels, original overlying sub-soils, stratified horizontal archaeology,
archaeological features or structures were encountered. The earliest deposits revealed within each Test Pit comprised a thick (up to 0.9m) deposit of homogeneous mid brown clayey silt extending down from a depth of c 1.0m bgl. These deposits were in turn overlain by deposits containing modern building material debris, almost certainly, originating from the construction of the Goodhart Building in 1961-2.
Phase 2: The earliest features encountered were within Area 2, and comprised two pits and a roughly northeast-southwest aligned linear feature. The relationship between the pits and the linear feature was uncertain, although the linear feature probably truncated at least one of the pits. During excavations in advance of the construction of the Goodhart Building in the 1960s, a possible property boundary between High Street and Merton Street was revealed. This was thought to have originated in the 11th century and subsequently determined the alignment of Kybald Street, a thoroughfare between High Street and Merton Street first created around 1130. Pottery dating from between 1050 and 1250 was recovered from the linear feature within the lift shaft, and it is thus possible that the feature either represents part of the earlier property boundary, or is evidence for activity fronting onto Kybald Street.
It was also noted that this feature was on a similar alignment to two ditches encountered during the 1960s excavations. These were interpreted as possible Bronze Age ring ditches, but no dating evidence was recovered. Consequently, it is possible that these three features may have represented different phases of the same boundary, although the possibility that the ditches recorded during the earlier works represent prehistoric features cannot be entirely discounted.
The linear feature had itself been truncated by a what appeared to be the north-west corner of a limestone-built structure. This may relate to a structure fronting onto the northern side of Kybald Street. Little evidence for the street itself was revealed, with the exception of a flattish layer of uncut stone, possibly representing a surface, which was overlain by a possible trample layer.
Other structures were encountered in Area 1. |
