Oxford Archaeology Occasional Paper – serie

The Oxford Archaeological Unit (OAU) carried out an excavation in 1997 on a site alongside the north bank of the Thames in King Stable Street, Eton, Berkshire, on behalf of Eton College. The evidence indicated that the site probably served as a working area for properties fronting the approach (later High Street) to the north side of Windsor Bridge from the 12th century onwards. Evidence was also found of a succession of timber revetments constructed to consolidate the riverbank, although these were evidently lightweight constructions, and did not serve as major wharfage. Late medieval and post-medieval activity on the site was characterised by low intensity craft or industrial pursuits, prior to the development of the site in the 18th century and the construction of a malthouse.

Archaeological excavations at the site of Poyle House, a derelict Georgian country house, revealed limited evidence of earlier buildings on the site. These comprised the beamslots of a possible farm range, and the structural remains of the north wall of a medieval house. The buildings formed part of the medieval Poyle Manor, and limited artefactual evidence suggests that occupation began during the late 11th or 12th centuries. Some evidence for the layout of the house and outbuildings in the Georgian period, and later, was also recorded. Five worked flints were recovered, all residual in later contexts. Pieces present were of Mesolithic and late Neolithic / early Bronze Age date (2000-1700BC).

The construction of a new electricity substation at Northfleet, Kent provided an opportunity to investigate the archaeological remains at the site. Excavations in 1999 revealed field boundaries, paddocks and structural remains dating to the 11th and 12th centuries, possibly relating to the settlement known as Wenifalle in the late 12th century. The proximity of the Roman settlement at nearby Springhead has tended to distract from the later settlement in the area, so the results of this excavation represent a useful addition to the modest body of evidence relating to medieval settlement in North Kent. This short report includes a concise discussion of the project followed by reports on the artefactual evidence (Roman and medieval pottery, building materials, flint and worked stone and metalwork) and environmental remains.

This report presents the results of over 40 years of excavation, historic building survey and documentary research that have been carried out by Oxford Archaeology and others at the site of the Cistercian house of Rewley, a chantry founded in 1281. It became an abbey and studium providing accommodation for monks studying at the university, and can therefore claim to be one of Oxford’s earliest colleges. The railway station that subsequently occupied the site in 1851 followed the design of the Crystal Palace, built for the Great Exhibition, and was the last surviving representative of that internationally important building.

An area of 6 ha just east of Kempsford was examined in 2000-2001 in advance of gravel extraction. The site saw little archaeologically detectable activity before the late Iron Age or possibly a little later, when a ditched field system was established. This was superseded in the early Roman period by a very regular layout of trackways, linking nearby settlements (just outside the excavated area) with wider field systems. After a hiatus of uncertain duration in the 3rd century the principle trackway was re-established, by which time the adjacent settlements we probably out of use though a substantial post-built stockade was contemporary with this late trackway. Environmental evidence suggests an emphasis on pastoral agriculture, and horse bones were prominent in the small animal remains assemblage. Track junction and other locations were used intermittently throughout the Roman period for burial. The chronology and apparently planned character of the Roman layout from the early 2nd century are discussed in the context of wider developments in settlement patterns in the region.