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Oxfordshire

Discredited Kiln Sites

The following, formerly claimed as kiln sites, cannot on present evidence be included in the gazetteer:
Fencott and Murcott Fencott-on-Otmoor; area centred SP57251601; the several fragments of Roman pottery found here do not form sufficient evidence to postulate a kiln site (GM 1817 U, 310-11) and more probably relate to Romano-British settlement.

Hanwell Camp Spinney, N of Spring Farm; SP434441 approx; the oven found in 1895, containing several pieces of rough pottery ‘marked in squares’ and ‘soil around . .. burnt red’ (Manning 1898, 18; OS Records), is not certainly Roman or a kiln (VCH Oxon 1 (1939), 306). Recently a concentration of red tile, recorded at SP 434442 (OC Mus, Woodstock Records), may suggest that the pottery ‘marked in squares’ was tile and that the ‘oven’ may have been connected with tile production. Alternatively, the tile may relate to a building. There is no record of large quantities of Romano-British pottery on the site such as might be expected from pottery production.

Ipsden Stoke Row (unloc. but probably within grid square SU6285); the nature of the quantity of pottery claimed to indicate a kiln site (OAHS 3 (1872), 4) is unknown and a Roman date has not been confirmed.

North Leigh Wilcote (unloc); there is no known evidence to support the claim of a kiln site here (JBAA 2 (1856), 177). Any Romano-British pottery recorded from near Wilcote probably relates to a known Roman building and settlement adjacent to Akeman Street (area centred SP363155). Wilcote lies well outside the main concentration Oxfordshire kilns.

Bibilography and Abbreviations

A Mus, Oxford: The Ashmolean Museum, Beaumont Street, Oxford.

Atkinson, R. J. C. 1941. A Romano-British Potters’ Field at Cowley, Oxon. Oxoniensia 6 (1941), 9-21.

BB: Black-burnished ware.

BB1: Black-burnished ware, Cateogy 1 (see Glossary).

Benson and Miles 1974. Benson, D. and Miles, D. The Upper Thames Valley: An Archaeological Survey of the River Gravels. Oxford.

Case et al. 1982. Case, H. J. and Young, C. J. Cassington 1950-2: late Neolithic pits and the Big Enclosure; Late Iron Age and Roman Pottery. In Case, H. J. and Whittle, A. W. R. (eds.). Settlement patterns in the Oxford Region, excavations at the Abingdon causewayed enclosure and other sites. C.B.A. Res.Rept. 44 (1982), 118-47.

Cook, P. M. M. 1955. A Roman Site at Asthall, Oxfordshire. Oxoniensia 20 (1955), 29-31.

Cunningham and Banks 1972. Cunningham, C. J. K. and Banks, J.W. Excavations at Dorchester Abbey, Oxon. Oxoniensia 37 (1972), 158-64.

Dr. 00: Standard numbering of samian ware forms, after Dragendorf, H. 1865. Terra Sigillata. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte griechischen und römischen Keramik. Bonner Jahrbuch 46 (1865), 18-55.

GM: The Gentleman’s Magazine.

Harden, D. B. 1936. Two Romano-British Potters’ Fields near Oxford. Oxoniensia 1 (1936), 81-102.

Hassall, M. W. C. 1953. A Pottery Mould from Horsepath, Oxon. Oxoniensia 17/18 (1952/3), 231-4, pl. XXI.

Hussey, R. 1841. An Account of the Roman Road from Alchester to Dorchester and other Roman Remains in the Neighbourhood. Oxford.

JBAA: Journal of the British Archaeological Association.

Jewitt, L. 1851. On Roman Remains Recently Discovered at Headington, near Oxford. J. Brit. Archaeol. Ass. 6 (1851), 52-67.

Manning, P. 1898. Notes on the Archaeology of Oxford and Neighbourhood. Berks. Bucks. Oxon. Archaeol. J. 4 (1898), 9-28.

Marshall, E. 1874. The Township of Iffley. Oxford.

May, T. 1922. On the Pottery from the Waste Heap of the Roman Potters’ Kilns discovered at Sandford, near Littlemore, Oxon., in 1879. Archaeologia 72 (1922), 225-42.

OAEC: Oxford Archaeological Excavation Committee.

OAHS: Oxford Architectural and Historical Society.

OC Mus, Woodstock: Oxfordshire County Museum, Fletcher’s House, Woodstock, near Oxford.

OS: Ordnance Survey.

OUAS: Oxford University Archaeological Society.

Oxon: Oxoniensia.

PP: Private possession.

Rolleston, G. 1884. Notes on the Site of Roman Pottery Works at the Mynchery Sewage Farm, near Oxford. In Turner, W. (ed.). Scientific Papers and Addresses II, 937-8. Oxford.

Sturdy and Young 1976. Sturdy, D. and Young, C. J. Two early Roman Kilns at Tuckwell’s Pit, Hanborough, Oxon. Oxoniensia 41 (1976), 56-64.

VCH Oxon: The Victoria County History of Oxfordshire.

Young 00: Vessel-type numbers of products of the Oxfordshire pottery industry in Young 1977.

Young, C. J. 1971. A Pottery Mould Fragment from Littlemore, Oxon. Britannia 2 (1971), 238-40, pl. XXXIIIB.

Young, C. J. 1972. Excavations at the Churchill Hospital, 1971: Interim Report. Oxoniensia 37 (1972), 10-31.

Young, C. J. 1973. Excavations at the Churchill Hospital, 1972: Interim Report. Oxoniensia 38 (1973), 207-14.

Young, C. J. 1974. Excavations at the Churchill Hospital, 1973: Interim Report. Oxoniensia 39 (1974), 1-11.

Young, C. J. 1977. The Roman Pottery Industry of the Oxfordshire Region. BAR British Series 43 (1977). Oxford.