A once-in-a-century excavation of Oriel College has led to the discovery of the remains of a medieval kitchen and part of the city’s Saxon-era walls. The discovery, made by Oxford Archaeology, has shed light on Oriel and Oxford’s historical development, of which little was previously documented.
The excavations were made possible by renovations to the college that took place in preparation for its 700-year anniversary, which included rebuilding the kitchen and refurbishing the bar. Oxford Archaeology discovered what they believe to have been part of the city’s south eastern corner, before Oxford extended eastwards. The walls separated St Martin’s Hall, one of Oriel’s old medieval halls, and land Oriel owned to the north.
A roasting hearth and oven base were also discovered: medieval structures like the kitchen had been replaced in the 1640s, when the present Front Quad was constructed.
Further excavations of Oriel could uncover even more about Oxford’s history and will contribute to the debate that started in the 1950s, around whether the excavation site may contain the remains of a smaller defended town.
Oxford Archaeology’s senior project manager, Ben Ford, described Oriel’s location as “archaeologically rich.” Ford also commented that unearthing the medieval kitchen allowed archaeologists to confirm assumptions about the size of Oriel’s original perimeter, which were made based on maps, views and surviving historical documents.
Previous renovations on the Oriel site in October 2024 unearthed a ditch that revealed late-Saxon Oxford’s eastern defensive line. It dates from when Oxford was one post in a wider defensive network on the boundary of the kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia. Its position in relation to a section of wall believed to be the late-Saxon north-eastern corner of the town meant that archaeologists were able to verify a theory that the late-Saxon perimeter of the town was square, and thus based on the Roman model.
