Christ Church, Oxford: archaeological appraisal of proposed resurfacing in Canterbury Quad, Peckwater Quad, and the passageway to

INTRODUCTION

Christ Church proposes to resurface Canterbury and Peckwater Quads, as well as the passageway from Peckwater to Fell Tower and Tom Quad. These form a continuous sequence of open spaces enclosed by buildings, and represent one of the House’s most important means of access and circulation. The Canterbury Quad gate off Oriel Square is an important means of access and egress, while the route from here to Tom Quad and its eponymous tower is of exceptional importance within the daily life of the college, its Senior and Junior Members. The buildings which define Canterbury and Peckwater Quads are Grade I listed,1 while the flank walls between Peckwater and Tom are Grade II listed.2 The open spaces are part of the Grade I registered park and garden at Christ Church.3 The buildings were erected at various times during the 18th century, replacing former halls and inns which had been part of the later medieval and earlier post-medieval collegiate system around Christ Church. The quadrangles became important formal spaces within the college, with Peckwater apparently laid out with quadripartite lawns from an early date (Figure 1). The present arrangement is modern.

Figure 1: Extract from Williams’s 1737 survey of Christ Church. The open spaces in Canterbury Quad, Peckwater Quad and through to Tom Quad still look much like this but have not always done so. Ordnance Survey maps down to the early decades of the 20th century do not show the four lawns in Peckwater, and a 1920s photograph confirms that it was a simple courtyard without lawns then. The 1939 (1:2500), 1958 and 1969-70 (1:1250) editions, however, do show lawns. Aerial photographs from the 1940s and 1950s confirm this (for example see EAW045712 ENGLAND (1952). The city centre, Oxford, 1952. This image has been produced from a print. | Britain From Above

1 CHRIST CHURCH, CANTERBURY QUADRANGLE, Non Civil Parish - 1369651 | Historic England; CHRISTCHURCH, PECKWATER QUADRANGLE, Non Civil Parish - 1198828 | Historic England; CHRISTCHURCH, LIBRARY, Non Civil Parish - 1046742 | Historic England 2 CHRISTCHURCH, WALLS BETWEEN TOM AND PECKWATER QUADRANGLES, Non Civil Parish - 1198945 | Historic England 3 CHRIST CHURCH, Non Civil Parish - 1000441 | Historic England

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The existing surfaces in these areas are of variable type and quality. They are all poor for inclusive access, while the dust and grit also cause problems externally as well as damage to floors etc internally within the Quad staircases. The House therefore proposes to replace them with a more appropriate, hard-wearing and easily accessible bound gravel finish. The proposals have been prepared by Sidleys and the House Surveyor. They are illustrated on drawings 6-1049-LP-01 (location plan), 6-1049-BP-01 (block plan) and 6-1049-01-P (plan as proposed). They are also in the Design and Access Statement/specification.

Our previous appraisals of refurbishment projects in Peckwater and Canterbury Quads describe the historical development and designation status of the buildings and external areas (see Bibliography). They also contain information about the overall archaeological interest of these areas. This report does not reproduce those sections, but concentrates instead on assessing whether the proposals might impact on archaeological remains that are known or thought to exist in the area.

PREVIOUS ARCHAEOLOGICAL WORK

The pre-Wolsey topography of much of Christ Church is well known from sources such as Loggan’s map of 1675. The medieval townscape was pieced together in minute detail by Herbert Edward Salter during his remarkable and invaluable work on the Survey of Oxford. Information on Christ Church – including his detailed hand-drawn maps – is in Volume 1 (1960). The Survey shows that the Priory of St Frideswide occupied a relatively small area to the east of St Aldate’s (Fish Street) and south of the High Street, with roads and urban tenements pressing closely against its precinct walls on the west, north and north-east sides. The extra-mural meadows lay to the south. Halls occupied many of the tenements. Figure 2 presents a consolidated map based on Salter’s Survey, showing the position of the Great (Tom) Quad relative to the earlier layout. The area covered by this report is to the south of Little Jury Lane and west of Shidyerd Street.

Archaeological work since the 1950s has exposed elements of the pre-Wolsey urban topography in several areas of Christ Church, most notably in and around Peckwater, Canterbury and Blue Boar Quads. Remains have included the surfaces of roads such as St Edward Street, Jury Lane and Shidyerd Street, as well as buildings, pits and other features. There is potential for more discoveries to be made despite the extent of later building works, with remains found even under the floors of basements in Peckwater Quad (eg Keevill 2010 sites 8, 11 and 57; Keevill and Keevill 2020a, 2020b).

The sustained and extensive watching briefs carried out in and around Canterbury and Peckwater Quads by John Moore Heritage Services during 2005-7 provide the most important evidence for the archaeological resource and potential in these area (JMHS 2012), while our own much smaller-scale work on the south and east sides of Peckwater Staircase 9 in 2020 also produced some useful results (Keevill and Keevill 2020b – see Figure 3). In summary, these open areas (whether lawned or under hard surfaces) retain extensive areas of buried medieval and earlier post-medieval archaeological remains, with masonry walls representing several buildings having been found in both Quads along with the cobbled surfaces of medieval streets which were extinguished when Christ Church expanded its buildings into these areas. It is very likely that Anglo-Saxon remains survive as well, although it has been more difficult to recognise these definitively within the narrow (and often quite shallow) trenches observed in the watching briefs.

The buried pre-college remains lie under subsequent overburden layers at a depth of around 0.5m- 0.6m below ground, although they can manifest at both shallower and deeper levels than this. The remains have often been cut by Victorian and later drains, cables and other main services, but otherwise they survive in good condition with associated artefacts such as pottery, building material and clay pipes. An unusual and important assemblage of glass vessels found in the south-west

2 quadrant of Peckwater Quad during 2005-7 is thought to represent alchemical equipment (JMHS 2012, 91-105). The archaeological resource in the areas covered by this project is of high significance for our understanding of the college and city’s historical development.

Figure 2. The pre-Wolsey topography of Christ Church. Tom Quad and the kitchen are shown in dotted lines for reference. Drawing by Judith Curthoys, based on Salter’s Survey of Oxford.

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Figure 3: The 2020 watching brief to the south of Peckwater staircase 9 in progress, with a limestone and mortar surface which probably represents the medieval St Edward Street, and a pit cutting it (2m scale). The medieval street surface is 0.45m below the modern paving and tarmac.

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IMPACT ASSESSMENT

The proposal is to lay a new resin-bound natural aggregate surface finish, matched as closely as possible to the existing loose stone so that the general appearance of the Quads and passage is not altered. This system will provide a long-term solution to loose stone chips causing abrasion damage, airborne dust, trip hazards and maintenance issues. The resin-bound aggregate can be laid directly onto a tarmac surface, to existing falls utilising the existing gullies. No alterations are proposed to the buildings and entrances bordering the paved areas. The proposal includes for the replacement of existing exposed manhole and access covers with recessed units to allow the resin-bound aggregate to be installed within the cover, finishing level with the adjacent surface. The areas to be re-surfaced in this way are shown on Figure 4.

Figure 4: Sidleys’ drawing 6-1049-01-P shows the area where the new resin-bound surface will be laid (shaded grey). The access paths across Canterbury Quad are paved with brick setts, while the paths across/along the passageway to Fell Tower/Tom Quad have stone paving. These and the lawns in Peckwater Quad will remain in place.

Full details of the total depth of excavation required are to be confirmed, but the existing tarmac may need to be replaced to ensure a good finish for the resin to be laid over. The current tarmac layer is only c 100mm thick, usually laid directly onto the post-medieval/modern made ground beneath. A similar thickness is likely to be needed for the new surface and the binder layer. It is possible that a small amount of excavation into the top of the made ground will be needed, but at this stage it is not expected that there will be any need to excavate to a depth of more than 200mm in total for the new surfacing. This should not pose any risk of disturbance to the significant archaeological horizons beneath. It is also expected that existing drainage gullies will be retained and re-used, so here again no archaeological impact is anticipated. The gullies are understood to be quite shallow (perhaps up to 300mm including falls to soakaways) – this was observed to be the case in

5 the 2020 watching brief outside Peckwater 9. If any gullies are shown to have failed, or need extending, an archaeological watching brief would provide suitable mitigation for what should still be a low level of impact. The proposals do not require any substantive new drainage.

CONCLUSION

The areas covered by the proposed re-surfacing are known to contain significant archaeological remains. These typically lie around 0.5m below the current ground levels. The excavations needed to lay the resin-bound gravel over new tarmac are not expected to be deep enough to expose any of these remains. Similarly, any drainage work which might be needed is expected to be superficial and should not disturb important archaeological remains. A contingency for a watching brief has been allowed for so that archaeological mitigation can be provided during the project’s implementation should any such need arise.

Graham Keevill House Archaeologist Keevill Heritage Ltd June 2021

BIBLIOGRAPHY

JMHS 2012, Archaeological Investigations at Christ Church, Oxford, 2005-2007, John Moore Heritage Services report

Keevill G D 2010, Christ Church, Oxford: an Archaeological Assessment of the Cathedral and College Site

Keevill G D 2015, Christ Church, Oxford: Archaeological Appraisal of Proposed Alterations to Peckwater Quad, Staircases 6-8

Keevill G D 2016, Christ Church, Oxford: Archaeological Appraisal of Proposed Alterations to Peckwater Quad, Staircases 3-5

Keevill G 2017, Christ Church, Oxford: Archaeological Appraisal of Proposed Alterations to Peckwater Quad, Staircases 1-2 and 9

Keevill G D 2018, Christ Church, Oxford: Archaeological Appraisal of Proposed Alterations to Peckwater Quad, Staircase 9

Keevill G D 2020, Christ Church, Oxford - Archaeological Appraisal of Proposed Alterations to Canterbury Quad, Staircases 1 -2

Keevill G D and Keevill C 2020a, Peckwater Quad, Staircases 1-2, Christ Church, Oxford - Report on Historic Building Recording and an Archaeological Watching Brief

Keevill G D and Keevill C 2020b, Christ Church, Oxford - Peckwater Quad, Staircase 9: Report on an Archaeological Watching Brief and Building Recording

Salter H E 1960, Survey of Oxford: Volume I, Oxford Historical Society New Series 14

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