Post-medieval Oxford - Oxford City Council

originated in the 12 th century and were making paper by the 18 th century (Rocque’s
map of Berkshire 1761). The buildings were demolished in 1960 and ashlar stone
walls of the main mill channel are all that remains. The nearby mill house, ‘Paisley
House’, built to obstruct the opening of the Great Western Railway, was notable for
being largely constructed of cardboard. The mill site was subject to limited test pitting
in 2006, producing a fragment of 18 th or 19 th lead window frame and 18 th -19 th pottery
(Oxford Archaeology 2006).
Quarrying
Headington parish was an important source of local stone from at least the 14 th
century (Arkell 1947). Medieval and post-medieval quarrying followed a typical
method of extraction from a shallow pit, which was abandoned as the difficulties of
deep extraction outweighed the benefits; the pit was then abandoned in favour of
another site. This method of extraction resulted in the highly fragmented landscape
still visible today. The main area of quarrying is in the east of the parish, north of the
old London Road. From the 16 th century, the quarry area was recognised as a hamlet
of Headington (Mason 1989: 363). Quarrying was at its most productive in the postmedieval
period partly due to the major rebuilding programmes underway in the
colleges and several acts were passed to facilitate transport of the stone including
turn-piking the London Road and attempts to increase navigation on the rivers and
later the canals. Documentary evidence from college archives concerning quarries in
Headington during the 17 th century indicate that at least nine quarries were held by
the colleges while others were held by the quarrymen themselves (Cole 1960: 64).
Wolvercote has also seen frequent periods of quarrying since the medieval period
and evidence of 16 th and 17 th century gravel quarrying has been recorded on
Wolvercote Common (Lambrick and McDonald 1985).
Extensive urban quarrying for gravel.
Urban and suburban quarry sites have also been recorded around the town. For
example, at Queen Elizabeth House, St Giles (UAD 562), to the rear of St John’s
College North Quad (Lawrence 2003: 8), Parks Road (UAD 361), 3 Beaumont
Buildings (UAD 574) and George Street (UAD 381). Gravel digging at the Castle,
testified by the recent excavations, is depicted on Rooker’s painting of the Castle in
1779.
Inns and taverns
Many of Oxford’s historic inns continued in use from the late medieval period, and
can be traced from their property records and the City’s licensing of inn signs (Salter
1926). Notable examples are the George in George Street; the Star, Crown,
Roebuck, and Cross in Cornmarket, the Mitre, Bear, Ram, Angel and King’s Head in
High Street; and the New Inn, Red Lion and Fleur de Lys, Blue Boar, and Dolphin in
St Aldate’s. Notable investigations of inn buildings have included the Clarendon Hotel
(Star and King’s Head), (Pantin 1958), and the Golden Cross (Pantin and Rouse
1955). Archaeological investigation has also encountered limited evidence relating to
the operation of post-medieval inns, though post-medieval pottery finds from
unpublished salvage sites (e.g. Sturdy at Russell Acotts) include high status inn
material. An assemblage of 17 th century tankard and clay pipes from St Thomas’s
Street suggested the presence of an inn that was gone by the 18 th century (Norton et
al. 2006). Pottery from 65 St Giles indicated that the building had been a public
house from the 16 th century, a century earlier than previously thought (Norton and
Cockin 2008).
OXFORD ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESOURCE ASSESSMENT- POST MEDIEVAL
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