St Edmund Hall, Norham Gardens, Oxford Archaeological Evaluation Report

Oxford Archaeology was commissioned by Turnberry on behalf of St Edmund
Hall Design and Build Ltd to undertake a trial trench evaluation at the site of a
proposed development at St Edmund Hall, Norham Gardens, Oxford. The work
comprised the excavation of five trenches targeted within the footprint of the
proposed development. The fieldwork was undertaken over the course of five
days, between 23 and 27 May 2022.
The earliest activity on the site was represented by three pieces of struck flint
recovered from Trench 3. Although these were found as residual artefacts,
they have been broadly identified as Neolithic to Bronze Age in date.
Several ditches apparently forming part of a rectilinear enclosure system were
revealed in Trenches 1 and 3. Only a small quantity of early to mid‐Roman
pottery was recovered from one of these ditches but based on their
appearance and alignment it is thought likely that they were broadly
contemporary and Roman in date. The NE‐SW and NW‐SE alignments of these
ditches fit well with the cropmark features recorded in University Parks to the
south and they are likely to be related. Two larger features of uncertain extent
were also revealed in the north‐east of the site in Trench 4, but no dating
evidence was recovered.
Varying levels of overburden across the site demonstrate that various
landscaping and terracing work associated with the construction of the hall
have had a reasonable impact on the topography and deposits. However, the
archaeological remains appear unaffected by this landscaping. Although they
are likely to have been truncated by medieval and post‐medieval agricultural
activity in the area.
Building Survey
Oxford Archaeology was commissioned by St Edmund Hall, Oxford to undertake
a programme of Historic Building Investigation and Recording at No. 17 Norham
Gardens, Oxford. The detached house was built in 1874 as part of a leasehold
development by St John’s College and has seen multiple phases of extension and
occupation by three successive colleges. It is presently used by St Edmund Hall
for student accommodation and it is being redeveloped to provide more
capacity, necessitating the demolition of its extensions. This report focuses on
the 1926 chapel with the 1876 and 1894 extensions dealt with more briefly.
The chapel was designed by Harold Sydney Rogers for St Stephen’s House, an
Anglican theological college which occupied No. 17 Norham Gardens between
1919-80. The phasing is more complex than it at first appears, with the original
chapel likely being a rectangular structure with a nave and chancel. A closed
opening on the east elevation suggests there may have been another part to the
original building or an early extension. In either case, it was demolished before
1939, when the north and east porches were in existence. A sacristy was likely
added in the 1940s or 50s and the chancel was enlarged in 1961, both suggesting
that worship practices may have become more complex.
Despite being converted for secular use in 1980, the chapel retains numerous
features which are illustrative of its former use, including a donation box, statue
niche, holy water stoups and a piscina. A carving of a crucifix and wreath set in
the south wall of the chancel extension may have been relocated from the first
building occupied by St Stephen’s house when it was demolished in the 1930s.
The 1876 extension originally contained service rooms and a secondary staircase
and its construction just two years after the house suggests the service space
was considered inadequate. The house ceased being a private residence in 1888,
when St Hugh’s College took over the lease, and they remodelled the extension
to include an ornate staircase and sets of W.C.s and bathrooms. This was likely
done at the same time the 1894 extension was added.
The 1894 extension was built to meet the needs of the growing college with an
entrance hall, large dining room and twelve bedrooms. It is arguably the most
intact of the Victorian buildings, including the original house, with the only major
alterations being to the dining room. Most of the rooms have not been divided
and many original or early features survive, including mouldings and fireplaces.