Wolfson Building Extension Somerville College Oxford

On the 19th and 20th of September 2011 Oxford Archaeology (OA) carried out an
Archaeological Evaluation on the site of a proposed extension to the Wolfson
Building, Somerville College, Oxford (Centred at SP 5091 0692). The evaluation
revealed a sequence of late 18th/19th century worked soils directly overlying the
prevailing natural. These deposits had been severely truncated by a number of large
pits, probably dug for gravel extraction, which had been backfilled with redeposited
material, domestic refuse and construction debris dating to the 19th century. These
pits may be associated with either the construction of the original manor house in
1829 or possibly the late 19th century college building programme. No evidence for
the continuation of the archaeology observed in the adjacent Radcliffe Infirmary site
was encountered.