Extension to 23 Banbury Road, Keble College, Oxford

In May 2014, Oxford Archaeology (OA) undertook an archaeological watching brief
at 23 Banbury Road, Oxford. The work was commissioned by Keble College in
advance of the construction of an extension to the rear of 23 Banbury Road,
following advise from the City Archaeologist at Oxford City Council (OCC) that a
watching brief would be required. The watching brief was maintained during the
excavation of strip foundation trenches and a reduced dig within the footprint of the
new build. The excavation of the strip foundations revealed the natural gravels
overlain by a post-glacial loessic subsoil which overlies the gravel terrace upon
which Oxford sits. The loess was in turn overlain by a buried topsoil deposit which
was directly overlain by landscaping and bedding deposits associated with the
existing car park surface. The gravel, loess and buried topsoil had been truncated
by a large discrete feature which was likely to be a pit, but the function and date of
the feature were unclear. The northern edge of the footprint of the new build had
been subject to significant modern truncation. The reduced dig did not impact below
the top of the buried topsoil horizon and no further features were observed.