Postmaster's Hall Yard, Merton College, Oxford. Archaeological Watching Brief.

In October/November 2001, Oxford Archaeology carried out an extended watching brief at the Postmaster's Hall Yard, Merton College, Oxford. The work involved the monitoring of 4 geotechnical test pits excavated in advance of the construction of a new building with basement on the site. The watching brief followed an earlier phase of geotechnical test pits in 2000, and one of those test pits was re-excavated in the course of the work.
The main finds from this phase of work included the discovery of a well-constructed stone-built cellar or basement that abutted an earlier wall, possibly a tenement boundary. Associated pottery suggests that both structures date to the 11th-12th centuries. The basement appears to have had a floor, above which domestic debris accumulated, including the remains of a possible hearth/oven. The basement wall was was later robbed, possibly in the 13th or 14th century. Later medieval pottery was recovered from all three new test pits. Tentative traces of further medieval structures were revealed, together with structural remains relating to the stable block known from 19th century maps.