Road to the Manor: Excavations at Graven Hill, Oxfordshire, 2015-2016

Oxford Archaeology conducted excavations at Graven Hill in 2015–16, revealing evidence of prehistoric, Roman, medieval, and post-medieval activity, as well as finds related to the military site's use in the 1940s and 1950s. The site, which includes a well-preserved medieval pottery assemblage, has enriched our understanding of the history of the Oxfordshire landscape.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 208 pages
Publication date: 30 June 2023
Publisher: Oxford Archaeology

Oxford Archaeology conducted a series of excavations in 2015-16 at Graven Hill, on the former site of MoD Bicester, a vast military storage and distribution center constructed during the Second World War. The archaeological works unearthed evidence of prehistoric, Roman, medieval, and post-medieval activity, as well as artifacts pertaining to the military site's use during the 1940s and 1950s.

Ephemeral traces of early prehistoric activity were restricted to stone tools, including an impressive Neolithic axe head, and a Bronze Age cremation burial. The earliest indication of occupation emerged in the form of a small settlement on the northern slope of the hill during the middle Iron Age. A late Iron Age settlement to the north-west, which appeared to have been abandoned shortly after the Roman invasion, perhaps as a direct consequence of the army's arrival at Alchester, 1.6km west of Graven Hill, coincided with the construction of Akeman Street, the alignment of which was discovered to circumnavigate the north side of the hill.

The town of Bicester later emerged in the 6th century AD, around the time that a collection of dress and personal items were buried to the north of Graven Hill. A new farmstead was established in the late 11th century, evolving into the 13th century with a series of masonry buildings arranged around a central courtyard, interconnected via a road to the deserted medieval village at Wretchwick. The site holds significance for its well-preserved structural foundations and a substantial collection of artifacts, including one of the largest medieval pottery assemblages known from rural Oxfordshire. The farmstead was abandoned around the same time as the village in the mid-14th century, possibly due to the Black Death. The land was subsequently used for agriculture until the development of the present-day town in the 19th century.

Weight: 796g
Dimension: 211 x 297 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780904220919