St. Cross College West Quad Oxford

Following on from the submission of a Desk Based Assessment (OA, Dec 2012), and a
subsequent archaeological evaluation report (OA, April 2013), Oxford Archaeology
(OA) was commissioned by Prime Construction Ltd to carry out an archaeological
recording and watching brief of the historic boundary wall enclosing the north west
area of the Western Quad at St. Cross College, Oxford.
The site was composed of areas of car parking, garages, and gardens at the rear of the
St Cross College buildings on St Giles, Oxford. The development will see the
construction of a new L-shaped building in the north west corner of the college lands
on St Giles, which will complete the structural development of the northern and
western sides of the West Quad.
It was found that the walls above ground on site were largely rebuilt, most likely in the
19th century, with the inner east west running wall (OA 94a) appearing to be the
oldest. Broken moulded stones as well as broken brick and tile were found in both the
east west running walls (OA 94a and OA 103) suggesting that debris from nearby
buildings works were used in their construction. The area containing the garages in
modern times appears to have been enclosed with the red brick elements sometime in
the 19th century.
Subsequent excavation and investigation revealed that below ground level, the
masonry and mortar of OA 14 is different, suggesting that it is likely to be much later
in date and possibly original. OA 103 and OA 94a both had relatively shallow
foundations with masonry consistent with that above ground. It is thought that the
excavated foundations of another wall parallel with and slightly south of OA 94a may
in fact be the original parish boundary walls and that OA 94a is a later addition to the
site.