Tinbergen Building, Oxford: Chemistry Teaching Lab Flues & Life and Mind Building (Tinbergen Building), Oxford

2019 Watching brief
Oxford Archaeology was commissioned by Oxford University Fixed Assets
Limited to undertake a watching brief of the proposed relocated Chemistry
Teaching Lab Fume Extract Plant Room and Flues for the Tinbergen Building, Parks Road, Oxford. The watching brief was undertaken over nine days during January and February 2020 and consisted of five test pits and an area of 15m by 14.45m to a depth of 0.30m below the ground level strip for a pile mat.
The site was located in an area that had the potential to contain significant archaeological deposits relating to the Royalist defences of Oxford during the Civil War. However, no archaeological deposits of significance were excavated
during the watching brief.

2021 Evaluation
Oxford Archaeology was commissioned by main contractors Wates Construction Limited on behalf of Project Managers Arups to undertake an archaeological evaluation on the site of the proposed redevelopment of the
Life and Mind Building (formerly the Tinbergen Building), Oxford (NGR: SP 5183 0691).
The first phase of the evaluation work was undertaken during April 2021 and consisted of 13 archaeological evaluation trenches (Trenches 1–7 and 10–15).
The second phase was undertaken in October 2021 when the area became available and involved the excavation of a single trench combining Trenches 8 and 9.
The trenches demonstrated that possible late Iron Age to Roman activity, Civil War defensive features and post-medieval and Victorian deposits survive within the site.
The possible late Iron Age and Roman features are likely to relate to ditched field system boundaries and low-density structures. These features have the
potential to contribute to the understanding and development of this activity within the wider landscape and could be considered significant, as similar activity was record c 50m west of the site.
The Civil War defensive ditch was first observed as a cropmark and was revealed within Trenches 8, 10, 12 and 14, providing confirmation of the layout and position of the levelled earthworks shown on the maps of De
Gomme (1644) and Logan (1675).
Archaeological remains in the southern half of the site (south of the 2016 excavation area) will be preserved in situ below the construction compound area, and subsequently during the reinstatement of the University sports field.