Through out 2013 Archeox volunteers have been investigating the contents and context of a collection of stone tools made in the early years of the 20th century by Oxford antiquarian Alexander James Montgomerie Bell.  The collection comes from the Iffley Fields area of East Oxford, close to the junction of Donnington Bridge Road and Iffley Road. Today the collection is held in the Pitt Rivers Museum.

The East Oxford Archaeology and History Project conducted 1.8 hectares of gradiometer survey and smaller areas of detailed gradiometer and earth resistance survey on Donnington Recreation Ground, Iffley in 2012 and 2013.

Files: 

Donnington Recreation Ground Gradiometer.pdf

This location was chosen with a view to adding further information about the archaeology of the area to that gained from two previous test pits excavated in Abberbury Road on 21st - 22nd June 2011 (TPS_11 and 12). Both these sites provided evidence of Roman activity in the area, which included a 3rd century Roman coin of Postumus and fragments of mortaria.

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Test pit 12 was located in the garden of 26 Abberbury Road in a lawn sloping very gently up to the south. The area of lawn in which the test pit was dug was  part of an old orchard, of which a few trees survive in the back gardens on this side of Abberbury Road; the garden is approaching the highest point of Rose Hill and backs on to the allotments. Historic Ordnance Survey maps show this area as agricultural land until its development in the twentieth century.

Test pit 11 was located in the garden of 21 Abberbury Road in a lawn sloping down to the north. The lawn is surrounded by mature trees and lies on the northern slopes of Rose Hill. Historic Ordnance Survey maps show this area as agricultural land until its development in the twentieth century. There is known Iron Age and Romano-British archaeology within half a kilometre including burials, domestic surfaces and Roman kiln sites focused on Annesley Road.

Test pit 15 was located in the garden of the Rectory, Iffley in a lawn sloping down to the river to the west. Historic Ordnance Survey maps and the proximity of the church suggest that this area should be in the centre of the medieval village.  However the land may always have been within the confines of a medieval manor close to domestic buildings rather than heavily-used village or agricultural land.

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Test pit 14 was located in the turf of the central children’s play area, gently sloping to the west and much nearer the gently domed summit of Rose Hill.  Historic Ordnance Survey maps show this area as agricultural land until the development of Abberbury Road.

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Test pit 13 was located on the western edge of the Rose Hill allotments in an area sloping to the west and the river. Historic Ordnance Survey maps show this area as agricultural land until the development of Abberbury Road. This particular area of the allotments was, however, also part of the Glebe field, the remnant of which survives to the west.

Click here to read full report.

Click here to read report

The majority of the features detected could be explained by reference to modern maps and documentary sources, and provided a valuable training exercise and reference for future surveys.  Click here to read the full report.