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 16 was located in the garden of a house on the south side of Edgeway Road in a small level lawn. The house is one of a short terrace of houses ending in an office block. The terrace and the office were built in 1988 on the site of a garage remembered by a local resident in the 1930s.  A jump in house numbering suggests that the relatively new terrace may occupy the site of older cottages that preceded the garage, and the test pit results would seem to confirm this.

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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A test pit was dug to a depth of 1.0m. The natural geology was reached at 0.32m (72.65m above OD). On removing the turf, a thin, uneven spread of pea gravel could be seen immediately below the turfline, mixed with the soil from Spit 1

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A test pit was dug in the front garden of the Art T Centre to a depth of 0.45m. The natural geology was reached at c.0.8m below ground surface.

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The excavation revealed extensive evidence of this fire in the form of charcoal, burnt stone and fragments of medieval roof tile. It also revealed the foundations of a substantial wall likely to have been linked to the south wing of the Manor, although its alignment does not tie in well with the surviving part of the Manor. There has clearly been activity on this site for a very long time, as prehistoric worked flints and Roman pottery were found, as well as medieval and post-medieval ceramic material.

The remains of an internationally important Romano-British pottery industry, including kilns, were discovered before the building of the Greater Leys housing estate - within yards of this test pit.    The present house and garden have existed on the site for only 15 years; before that, no known maps show any buildings. All the existing evidence suggests the land had been used for agriculture. The earliest buildings shown in the vicinity on Ordnance Survey maps seem to be associated with the Blackford Leys farm/hamlet.

Area Excavated: 1m x 1.5m in lawn