Abingdon School Science Centre Abingdon Oxfordshire

Between the 28th of February and 11th of April 2013 Oxford Archaeology (OA)
carried out a field evaluation in the tennis courts, coach park and the area north of
Waste Court rugby pitch on behalf of Abingdon School, Abingdon, Oxfordshire,
ahead of the construction of a new science centre and coach park.
The evaluation consisted of eight trenches that were excavated within the footprint
of the proposed new Science Centre and new access for coach and car parking
north of Waste Court field.
The earliest archaeological evidence in the tennis court area comprised one residual
sherd of Iron Age pottery. Otherwise the earliest features were two pits containing
pottery of post-medieval date (18th-20th century). A number of other undated features
including a probable segmented ditch and a posthole might be related and might
represent a simple system of agrarian landscape use.
In the Coach Park a large 19th quarry pit was located, and contained a mixed
assemblage of pottery dating from the 19th to the 20th century.
East of the Coach Park, evaluation was targeted upon a possible cropmark ring
ditch halfway along the track between the Coach Park and the Sports Centre. No
trace of any ring ditch, or of any associated features, was found in either of the two
trenches dug to investigate this. The only potentially ancient feature was an undated
gully found at the north-west corner of the grassed area in Waste Court field. The
easternmost trench located the edge of another probable 19th century quarry close
to the northern boundary of the school grounds, the quarry perhaps bounded by a
recent ditch observed running north-south just to the west.