Bayards Hill Primary School, Headington, Oxford. Archaeological Watching Brief Report.

The watching brief was conducted as a series of site visits during these operations which had the potential to disturb or destroy archaeological deposits. These operations included the diversion of existing services, excavation of new service trenches, excavation of foundations, topsoil stripping and ground reduction. During these operations a suitably qualified archaeologist was present during any works which had the potential to impact upon any archaeological deposits. The bulk of the excavations was accomplished using a tracked excavator fitted with a toothless bucket. All spoil generated by both the machine and any hand excavations was examined for the presence of archaeological artefacts. During these works, features and deposits were issued with unique context numbers, and context recording was in accordance with established OA practices (OA 1991). Bulk finds were collected by context. Black-and-white negative photographs and a digital photographic record was taken of all excavations, general settings and archaeological sections. Site plans showing the location of any excavations and any recorded sections were maintained. Section drawings of features and sample sections were drawn at a scale of 1:20. The watching brief recorded that the areas covered by the previous school buildings and associated tarmacked areas had been truncated, destroying any potential archaeological strata. In the limited amount of undisturbed areas, evidence for post-medieval activity and a modern worked soil horizon was identified. No evidence for any significant archaeological activity, such as the project Roman Road, was observed.