Bartlemas Chapel with excavations

in the foreground

The following pdf documents introduce the Archeox Excavations at Bartlemas Chapel in the autumn of 2011.

St Bartholomew’s Chapel, commonly known as Bartlemas Chapel, lies to the east of the Cowley Road in East Oxford at SP 5337 0553. The Chapel is now part of the Diocese of Oxford and stands on a rood of land (equal to 0.25 acre, or 0.10 hectare) surrounded by allotments to the south and east and Oriel College’s playing fields to the north. The documented history of the site begins with the founding of a leper hospital in c 1126 with grants of land by Henry I from the Manor of Headington.

Private houses lie to the north (Bartlemas House) and west, across the rough access lane to the playing fields from Cowley Road, (Bartlemas Farmhouse). Three other houses line the west side of the track with the oldest nearest to Bartlemas Farmhouse. During the excavation we were permitted by the vicar to use the beautiful Chapel as an office and exhibition space for posters, photographs, drawings and displays of recent finds. Oriel College kindly allowed us to use their sports’ pavilion for tea breaks and the finds washing team enjoyed using the pavilion veranda for their work.