An Early Ditch, Medieval Boundary and Post-Medieval Quarrying at the President’s Garden, St John’s College

Excavations in the President’s Garden at St John’s College uncovered part of a substantial early ditch. The date of the feature is problematic and it is argued that it may have been a prehistoric feature or part of an early medieval defensive line, perhaps designed to protect the town from Viking assaults during the tenth century or during the Anarchy in the twelfth century. The ditch was recut on two occasions during the medieval period and formed the boundary between the parishes of St Mary Magdalen and St Giles, as well as the original northern boundary of the college. Other features pertained to gravel quarrying associated with construction work at the college during the mid sixteenth to mid seventeenth century and disposal of refuse. Notable finds from that period include rare decorated stove tiles and an exceptional assemblage of clay tobacco pipes.
The report will be published in Dodd, A, Mileson, S, and Webley, L, forthcoming The archaeology of Oxford in the twenty-first century. Investigations in the city centre by Oxford Archaeology, 2006–16, Oxford Archaeol Historical Society Occasional Paper 1, Oxford
Attached specialist reports Animal bone L Broderick, CBM J Tibbles, Clay tobacco pipes D Higgins, Coins & Jetons I Scott, Fish bone R Nicholson, Metal and bone small finds I Scott & L Allen