Proposed New Student Buildings St Hilda’s College Oxford

Oxford Archaeology were commissioned by Austin Newport Ltd, acting on behalf of St Hilda’s
College, to undertake an archaeological desk-based assessment examining the archaeological
implications of the proposed new buildings at St Hilda’s College, Cowley Place, Oxford. The
Site is located within the central part of St Hilda’s College which is located in east Oxford. It
is centred on NGR 452177, 205843, and lies within the administrative area of Oxford City
Council.
This desk-based assessment has demonstrated that the Site has a moderate potential to
contain significant archaeological remains dating from the prehistoric period, low potential
for Roman remains, moderate potential for Saxon and Viking remains, moderate potential for
medieval remains and high potential for post medieval remains. These potentially comprise
evidence for the medieval Boys Mill, medieval and post medieval farm buildings, evidence of
the post medieval Milham Bridge and ford and the potential for Civil War defensive outworks.
Current plans include the demolition of the Milham Ford Building and the Porters’ Lodge
and the construction of two new buildings with a basement. The proposed basement will likely
have the greatest impact upon the potential underlying archaeology.
The results of a Watching Brief carried out on geotechnical investigations at the Site
(Appendix 4) indicate the presence of in situ natural gravel deposits which raises the
possibility that potential archaeological features of all archaeological periods may survive.
Deposits may include: structural remains of the historic bridge crossing, remains of the
medieval Boys Mill and former post medieval farm buildings. The Watching Brief also
revealed that there is to be limited potential for in situ structural remains to the south of
Milham Ford Building.
It is highly likely that further work would be needed to mitigate the impact of the reduction of
the underlying archaeological deposits, most likely in the form of an archaeological
evaluation. An evaluation would help better understand the results of the Watching Brief of
the geotechnical works and reveal the actual survival of archaeological remains at the site.
This will assist in the formulation of a mitigation strategy intended to reduce or remove any
impacts upon the archaeological resource within the Site