Kitchen Lift Keble College Parks Road Oxford: Watching Brief (OASIS ID: oxfordar1-366754)
Oxford Archaeology (South), 2020. https://doi.org/10.5284/1083520. How to cite using this DOI
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- ADS Collection: 3881
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1083520
- How to cite using this DOI
Introduction
In August 2016, Oxford Archaeology (OA) were commissioned by Keble College to undertake an archaeological watching brief during enabling works associated with the refurbishment of the college kitchens. The watching brief focussed on the excavation of a trench for a new lift pit in the SCR pantry. The watching brief revealed the top of the second terrace gravel overlain by a layer of post-glacial brickearth. There was some evidence for a feature in the northern half of the trench. The shape of the feature in plan was uncertain, although it is possible that it was linear. The fills of the feature were predominantly composed of re-deposited brickearth, which elsewhere in the city has been indicative of prehistoric or late Saxon features. The location of the site lies within the projected area enclosed by the henge identified during recent works undertaken by Thames Valley Archaeological Services (TVAS) within the Kendrew Quadrangle of St John's College. Consequently, it was considered whether the possible linear feature within the lift pit trench may have also been associated with the henge, particularly given the composition of the main fill. However, the projected eastern continuation of the ditch identified by TVAS runs to the south of the SCR, and consequently it seems unlikely that the southern edge of the feature is part of the same ditch. It is possible that it represents a feature within the area encircled by the henge, either an inner ditch or a later barrow within the henge itself. The Big Rings henge monument at Dorchester-on-Thames was formed of two concentric ditches, and also displayed some evidence for 'internal' features where a possible round barrow was identified within the annulus of the ditches. However, given that the character and date of the feature observed during the watching brief are unclear, this interpretation can be no more than conjectural.
