The test pit is close to a Bartlemas Farmhouse dated partly to the early 16th century, but an older part to the east may have been the warden’s house for the Bartlemas leper hospital founded in the 12th century. This area was clearly occupied during the medieval period as pottery from the pit demonstrates. There is also clear evidence from the make-up layer of clay and domestic/animal waste that the ground level was raised at some point, probably to prevent flooding.

Test Pit 31 is the second of a number of planned test pits to be dug in allotments that border the south and east of Bartlemas Chapel. The aim of these small excavations is to see if it is possible to determine the extent of activity around the chapel prior to the boundary wall being constructed.

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See photographs on Flickr     

Click here to read project volunteer and artist Nick Hedges observations on Bartlemas Chapel.

3 November

Well, that’s me finished; I’ve got things to do so I’m having to miss out on the last two days of the dig – let’s hope someone will pick up where I leave off.

The test pit was positioned inside and east of the western boundary ditch, in such a way as to avoid an area that the householder identified as previously having been a rose bed. The test pit was dug to a depth of 0.38m. The natural geology was not reached

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A test pit was dug in the front garden of Bartlemas Farmhouse to explore the character of the soils in this part of the site,and to test the survival of any archaeology and the depth of recently accumulated soils.

Click here to read the full report 

Bartlemas Chapel

St Bartholomew’s Chapel (Bartlemas) lies within a small secluded fragment of medieval England, tucked away behind the busy Cowley Road.  The chapel, hospital building and chaplain or wardens house were founded in the early 12th century by Henry I to accommodate 12 lepers (known as brethren) and a chaplain. The site lay on a plateau within Cowley Marsh and had its own gardens, springs and holy well, and was surrounded by cultivated land, meadows for grazing animals, and woodland.