Post-medieval Oxford - Oxford City Council

the Dutch style (as shown on Williams remarkable view of 1732) and finally
landscaped in the early 19th century in the informal style.
Wadham College (RPG 2317)
Wadham College gardens date primarily to the 18th century when the formal garden
designs (shown on Loggan’s view) were replaced with the informal style. The Grade
II (RPG) gardens were more recently re-designed after World War II and include
lawns, mixed borders and mixed specimen trees. The garden is bounded by a Grade
II 16th century stone wall to the west (LB Ref 5/187H) and a 17th century Grade II
stone wall to the east (LB Ref 6/187D).
Worcester College (RPG 1434)
The gardens of Worcester College cover approximately ten hectares and include
gardens, playing fields and ponds; they are Grade II* (RPG). The college was
founded in the 13th century as a monastic college. It was dissolved in 1541 and its
buildings were taken over by Gloucester Hall. The college was re-founded in 1714 as
Worcester College. The garden probably dates largely to the early 19th century when
the crescent shaped lake was added following the creation of the canal in 1788. A
16th century Grade II gatehouse is located to the south of the lake.
Ceremony and religion
The Church of England did not undertake significant church building in the 16th to
18th centuries, however, rebuilding programmes did have an impact in the 18th
century. For example, St Peter le Bailey, Oxford was rebuilt in 1726 and All Saints in
1706-8. For details of post-medieval architecture, see RCHM (1939) and Sherwood
and Pevsner (1974).
Churches – archaeological investigations
All Saints Church
The Late Saxon and medieval church was demolished and rebuilt in a 1706-8 design.
Excavations for the basemented college library with All Saints Church investigated
beneath the standing 18th century structure. Post-1700 features consisted of brick
burial vaults and inhumations set within the rubble demolition of the medieval church
(Dodd ed. 2003: 232).
St Ebbe’s
Archaeological investigations at St Ebbe’s Church in 2004 (UAD 1634) recorded
evidence of inhumations within the former churchyard comprising eleven burials from
between the 17th - 19th centuries (Parsons 2004: 10).
St Peter-le-Bailey
Excavation on the site of the churchyard of St Peter le Bailey at Bonn Square in 2008
for lamp posts, revealed a total of 296 burials of medieval-19th century date. The
analysis of the skeletons provided a rare opportunity to study the health and disease
of the population of one of the poorest parishes in Oxford during the medieval and
post-medieval periods. The results demonstrated that the later population suffered
from the effects of hard labour, crowded living conditions, pollution and poor hygiene
(Webb and Norton 2009).
St Peter in the East
A rare example of a wooden font was recorded at Parham House in Sussex in the
late 19th century and was said to belong to St Peter’s of Oxford (Swann 1897: 65).
OXFORD ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESOURCE ASSESSMENT- POST MEDIEVAL
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