Archaeological Monitoring and Recording at 41 Meadow Prospect, Wolvercote, Oxfordshire

Excavations began in the southern most part of site, immediately adjacent to Port Meadow, and extended northwards towards the road. An archaeologist was present on site during all ground reduction, although monitoring was intermittent throughout the excavation due to the programme of works carried out alongside limitations due to the confined nature of the site. On consultation with the city archaeologist David Radford, it was agreed that the monitoring of a small section of drainage running northwards towards the road would not be required. Where archaeological horizons were encountered they were cleaned by hand and excavated appropriately. Standard John Moore Heritage Services techniques were employed throughout, involving the completion of a written record for each deposit encountered, with scale plans and section drawings compiled where appropriate. The site was recorded using a sub-cm RTK GNSS survey kit, and a photographic record was also produced. The resultant spoil from the works was visually scanned, especially for finds relating to prehistoric activity. No finds were observed or recovered. The watching brief aimed to identify the presence or absence of significant archaeological remains. With a particular focus on prehistoric remains evidence of which are known to be within the immediate vicinity of the site. During the course of the archaeological monitoring no archaeological features or finds were discovered. The negative results witnessed during this phase of archaeological work is likely due to truncation across the whole site during the initial construction of the property.