Student Castle, Osney, Oxford Archaeological Evaluation Report

Oxford Archaeology undertook evaluation trenching for NLP Planning on
behalf of Student Castle on the site of proposed student accommodation.
A layer of alluvium was present throughout the trenches and probably derived
from alluviation of the Oxford floodplain that was underway by the late Iron
Age and continued throughout the Roman period, slowing or perhaps ceasing
thereafter before resuming during the late Saxon period.
Pits dating from the mid 13th-14th century were found in Trenches 1, 1a and
2 at the northern end of the evaluation area, which corresponds with the
precinct of Oseney Abbey as understood from documentary and cartographic
evidence. No evidence was found for the abbey church or associated burial
ground, which are believed to have extended into the north-western part of
the evaluation area, but which evidently did not extend as far east as Trenches
1-2. No features were identified to the south, beyond the abbey precinct,
apart from a single possibly modern ditch.
The archaeological features were overlain by modern made ground 1.3-2.42m
thick, which was deposited during the construction of the railway during the
19th century in order to raise the ground level of the railway and goods depot
above flood level