Featured: Lost Secrets - an adventure during Neolithic times

Lost Secrets - an adventure during Neolithic times

Random Image


Hethpool Cairn

Roads and Trackways of North Wales

Roads and Trackways of North Wales

Who's Online

There are currently, 490 guests and 5 members online.

You are a guest. To join in, please register for free by clicking here

Sponsors

<< Our Photo Pages >> Kendrew Quadrangle - Henge in England in Oxfordshire

Submitted by theSongofFfraed on Thursday, 18 January 2018  Page Views: 11379

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Kendrew Quadrangle Alternative Name: Oxford Henge
Country: England County: Oxfordshire Type: Henge
Nearest Town: Oxford
Map Ref: SP51200695
Latitude: 51.758904N  Longitude: 1.259591W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
1 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
1 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
no data Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

Internal Links:
External Links:

Kendrew Quadrangle
Kendrew Quadrangle submitted by theSongofFfraed : St. Michael and the dragon atop Keble College chapel, right in the centre of the henge. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Henge in Oxfordshire. A ditch discovered as part of excavations in March 2008 was dentified as being part of henge monument, was created in the late Neolithic and Bronze Age (c. 2300). The ditch excavated here is/was up to 8m across and at least 2.5m deep, curves only very slightly and based on the small part of the plan so far recovered, would have enclosed an area of at least 150m diameter, encompassing all of what is now Keble College and the Pitt Rivers Museum.

[Photo Caption: St. Michael and the dragon atop Keble College chapel, right in the centre of the henge - theSongofFfraed]

This discovery adds considerable interest to cropmark evidence (visible from the air) in The Parks, already well known since the 1970s, showing three large circular ditches, and other features, These are usually thought to represent levelled Bronze Age round barrows (tumuli) but may be too large (40–50m across) for that interpretation; further, smaller circles more likely to be barrows surround them, in The Parks, the University Science Area and Sackler Street.

Several of these have been partially excavated in recent times. If the ditch in Blackhall Road is indeed a henge, this points to an even more significant ritual focus in this area.

More details, with photos at TVAS Archaeology.

Note: A look back to the excavations of 'The Oxford Henge' with lots of information now published - see the comments on our page for more - but what happened to the promised public exhibition?
You may be viewing yesterday's version of this page. To see the most up to date information please register for a free account.


Kendrew Quadrangle
Kendrew Quadrangle submitted by theSongofFfraed : An earlier photograph I took of the henge site when I first heard about it. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Kendrew Quadrangle
Kendrew Quadrangle submitted by theSongofFfraed : Another shot of the site where the arc of the henge was found. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Kendrew Quadrangle
Kendrew Quadrangle submitted by theSongofFfraed : View to the site of the henge from the war memorial by St. Giles church. The new quadgrangle is the pinkish building. the brick building is Keble College, right in the middle of the henge, apparently. This photo may have been taken from within the boundaries of the henge. It is certainly in the expansive ritual area. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Kendrew Quadrangle
Kendrew Quadrangle submitted by theSongofFfraed : Groundworks on the site where the arc of the henge was found. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.

Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
SP5106 : Lamppost in St Giles by Basher Eyre
by Basher Eyre
©2011(licence)
SP5106 : Department of Statistics by N Chadwick
by N Chadwick
©2017(licence)
SP5106 : St Giles Fair on Banbury Road by Steve Daniels
by Steve Daniels
©2009(licence)
SP5106 : Cautionary graffiti in Blackhall Road by Basher Eyre
by Basher Eyre
©2011(licence)
SP5106 : Bus in the Banbury Road by Basher Eyre
by Basher Eyre
©2011(licence)

The above images may not be of the site on this page, they are loaded from Geograph.
Please Submit an Image of this site or go out and take one for us!


Click here to see more info for this site

Nearby sites

Click here to view sites on an interactive OS map

Key: Red: member's photo, Blue: 3rd party photo, Yellow: other image, Green: no photo - please go there and take one, Grey: site destroyed

Download sites to:
KML (Google Earth)
GPX (GPS waypoints)
CSV (Garmin/Navman)
CSV (Excel)

To unlock full downloads you need to sign up as a Contributory Member. Otherwise downloads are limited to 50 sites.


Turn off the page maps and other distractions

Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 223m NW 313° Radcliffe Infirmary prehistoric monumental landscape Round Barrow(s) (SP5103607101)
 309m E 91° Pitt Rivers Museum* Museum (SP51510695)
 461m SSW 193° Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology* Museum (SP511065)
 805m WNW 297° Walton Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SP5047907312)
 856m S 174° Museum of Oxford* Museum (SP513061)
 2.7km ESE 123° St Bartholomew's Well Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SP5349805476)
 2.8km WNW 293° St Margaret's Well (Binsey)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SP486080)
 6.6km NW 321° Yarnton* Ancient Village or Settlement (SP4712)
 7.5km WSW 251° Physic Well (Cumnor)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SP4412604375)
 8.6km W 278° Deadman's Burial 2 Henge (SP42610807)
 8.7km S 177° Barrow Hills Radley I Timber Circle (SU518983)
 8.8km WNW 281° Eynsham Timber Circle Timber Circle (SP425086)
 8.9km W 277° Deadman's Burial 1 Misc. Earthwork (SP42350795)
 9.3km SW 235° Badger's Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SP4360201485)
 9.6km W 263° Stanton Harcourt Church Cross* Ancient Cross (SP4164305666)
 10.3km ESE 117° Cuddesdon Stones Upper Standing Stone (Menhir) (SP6042102411)
 10.3km WSW 258° Devils Quoits* Stone Circle (SP41120476)
 10.6km S 190° Abingdon Cursus Cursus (SU494965)
 10.7km ESE 118° Cuddesdon Stones Lower Standing Stone (Menhir) (SP6070002018)
 10.9km W 262° Gravelly Guy Timber Circle (SP404054)
 11.7km SE 133° Stadhampton Cursus Cursus (SU59909910)
 11.9km SE 134° Stadhampton Cursus Cursus (SU59799875)
 12.1km S 190° Drayton North Cursus Cursus (SU492950)
 12.1km WSW 243° Northmoor Linear Ditches* Barrow Cemetery (SP40390142)
 12.1km NW 322° Fair Rosamund's Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SP43651646)
View more nearby sites and additional images

<< Pinfold Hill 02

National Museum of Scotland (Pictish Stones) >>

Please add your thoughts on this site

The Materiality of Stone, Tilley

The Materiality of Stone, Tilley

Sponsors

Auto-Translation (Google)

Translate from English into:

"Kendrew Quadrangle" | Login/Create an Account | 8 News and Comments
  
Go back to top of page    Comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
Kendrew Quadrangle Excavations January – August 2008 by Andy B on Thursday, 18 January 2018
(User Info | Send a Message)
Kendrew Quadrangle Excavations January – August 2008.
In January 2008 archaeologists from Thames Valley. Archaeological Services began excavating the area behind St. John's College in advance of the construction of the new student accommodation block. This was instigated as a result.
http://tvas.co.uk/downloads/1A-Summary.pdf

Prehistoric Oxford
In the last few years our knowledge of the landscape of earlier prehistoric Oxford has made a significant leap forward with several sites coming to light. The area of north Oxford is increasingly considered as a later Neolithic ...
Early urban development
http://tvas.co.uk/downloads/2a-prehist.pdf

A 'monumental' ditch
The oldest feature discovered on the Kendrew Quadrangle site was, along with the Saxon mass grave, one of the least expected. As the burials were excavated it became clear that the bodies were lying in a large shallow ...
http://tvas.co.uk/downloads/2B-Henge.pdf

A mass grave and a mystery
Kendrew Quadrangle Excavations January – August 2008. St Brice's Day, AD 1002. A mass grave and a mystery. It was only as weeks of planned excavations were drawing to an end that the most significant finds were unearthed. It was immediately clear that the mass grave was not a normal cemetery.
http://tvas.co.uk/downloads/3A-GraveEx.pdf

Palaeopathology
Skeletal pathology provides information regarding the living conditions, diet, work, access to medical care, as well as numerous other aspects of everyday life of past populations. These show through detectable changes ...
http://tvas.co.uk/downloads/3C-Path.pdf

Skull wounds Postcranial wounds Summary
A total of 40 blade wounds were recorded on 18 skulls, with individual skulls exhibiting up to 9 blade wounds, and an average of 2.2 injuries per affected skull. These injuries most frequently affected the right and left sides of ...
http://tvas.co.uk/downloads/3E-Trauma2.pdf

'St Brice's Day massacre'
Kendrew Quadrangle Excavations January – August 2008. St Brice's Day, AD 1002. “all the Danes … to be destroyed…” It is rare for archaeology to produce evidence of specific historical events: the Mary Rose is one well-known example, but famous because it is unusual. The mass grave here appears to be another such ...
http://tvas.co.uk/downloads/3F-Conclusion.pdf

11th – 14th Centuries AD. Early urban development. Following the dramatic events of the early 11th century, occupation of the site continued well into the 14th century. This period of time is represented primarily by a large number of pits that were dug into the ...
http://www.tvas.co.uk/downloads/4A-Med.pdf
[ Reply to This ]

Kendrew Quadrangle Henge and the amazing disappearing exhibition! by Andy B on Thursday, 18 January 2018
(User Info | Send a Message)
theSongofFfraed writes: In the first half of 2008 (or before), during groundwork preparations for a new quadrangle, evidence of an enormous ancient henge was unearthed on a site to the east of St. Giles, in the University City of Oxford. The site belongs to St. Johns college.

An archaeological team investigated what they could but the henge was quickly covered up again.

The public was notified of the find through the Oxford Mail on 17th July 2008 and they reported that within two years, a public exhibition, with scale models and artefacts found, would be presented for people to see. It is now 2018 and this promise has not been kept.

The newspaper release said that the henge was one of the biggest ever found in Britain. They estimated that it was 150 metres wide after extrapolating the size from the 8.8 metre wide curve of the moat that had been found.

I wrote an article about it at the time and suspecting that the area was actually a huge complex, predicted that other circles, monumental sites would be discovered nearby:

Now you see it…Now you don’t: The Oxford Henge
http://ellisctaylor.com/2015/10/23/now-you-see-it-now-you-dont-the-oxford-henge/

They were, when the Radcliffe Infirmary, a few hundred yards away, was demolished in 2009 and archaeologists moved in. Strangely, the original reports do not seem to be available, but a redacted one is here:
http://www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/news/2401755.monumental_find/
making no mention of the promised exhibition.

It was already known that there are the remains of barrows, on the other side of the henge, in the University Parks; and other sites were known about and suspected by the University - but not the henge!

This is a video that I made of the henge site in the process of being built over, and the building that now covers the section that was found. There are other associated sites included. There's no audio unfortunately. I can't remember why that is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5VIHBtzWQU

[ Reply to This ]

Re: Kendrew Quadrangle Henge by nicoladidsbury on Friday, 22 August 2008
(User Info | Send a Message)
Interesting article Andy, the picture of the deer antler digging tool is great! Imagine finding that...
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Kendrew Quadrangle Henge by AngieLake on Saturday, 23 August 2008
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    Could it be a scapula, and not a deer antler, by any chance?
    [ Reply to This ]
    Oxford Archaeological Resource Assessment - Neolithic to Bronze Age by Andy B on Thursday, 18 January 2018
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    OXFORD ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESOURCE ASSESSMENT 2011
    NEOLITHIC TO BRONZE AGE
    Compiled by Ruth Beckley and David Radford
    Version: 28/1/2012

    The Oxford Resource Assessment is designed to compliment the county level
    resource assessment produced as part of the Solent Thames Research Frameworks
    (Hey 2006; Allen 2007). Because of the paucity of late Bronze Age material within the
    LAA, the Neolithic and Bronze Age information is considered together rather than
    divided in to Neolithic-Early Bronze Age and Later Prehistoric as in the County level
    assessments.

    The assessment report draws upon the wider literature on the prehistory of the Upper
    Thames including The Archaeology of the Oxford Region monograph published in
    1986 (Bradley1986; Case 1986), the paper produced on the Early Prehistory of the
    Oxford Region for the 1995 Tom Hassall Lecture (Barclay, Bradley, Hey and
    Lambrick 1996) and the discussion provided in the Centre for Gene Function
    excavation report (Boston et al. 2003).

    At a regional level overviews have been
    provided by the Solent Thames Research Frameworks (Bradley 2010; Lambrick
    2010) and the Thames Through Time monograph series (Lambrick and Robinson
    2009, Morgi et al. 2011). In addition the Oxfordshire Historic Environment Record
    (OHER) and the Oxford Urban Archaeological Database (UAD) have been consulted.

    https://www.oxford.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/1620/neolithic_to_bronze_age_oxford_4000_-_800_bc.pdf
    [ Reply to This ]
    Archaeologists Uncover Prehistoric Landscape Beneath Oxford University by Andy B on Thursday, 18 January 2018
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    Archaeologists Uncover Prehistoric Landscape Beneath Oxford University (November 2009)

    Archaeologists excavating the former Radcliffe Infirmary site in Oxford have uncovered evidence of a prehistoric monumental landscape stretching across the gravel terrace between the Thames and Cherwell rivers.

    Archaeologists excavating the former Radcliffe Infirmary site in Oxford have uncovered evidence of a prehistoric monumental landscape stretching across the gravel terrace between the Thames and Cherwell rivers.

    The work was carried out over the summer in preparation for Oxford University's proposed Radcliffe Observatory Quarter -- plans for which were revealed earlier this month.

    In addition to these findings, the work has also uncovered evidence of a 6th century Saxon settlement, including a sunken featured craft hut known as a Grübenhauser and a pit containing unfired clay loom weights.

    A team from Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) has been excavating parts of the 3.7 hectare site. The excavation has revealed evidence of three large prehistoric 'ring ditches' along with some evidence of possible associated cremation burials and an enigmatic rectangular enclosure, finds from which are currently being subjected to radio carbon dating.

    Mike Wigg, Head of Capital Projects at Oxford University, said: 'The University was delighted to provide the opportunity for an investigation of Oxford heritage to be carried out in advance of any development work.'

    The River Thames was an important focus for monument building in the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods when monuments used for burial, ritual and social purposes were constructed along the gravel terraces of the river.

    A spokesperson from MOLA explained: 'Ring ditches are, as the name suggests, circular ditches, which are often the remains of ploughed out barrows, that may be associated with burials of high status individuals in the later Neolithic or Bronze Age, about 4000 years ago.'

    The archaeologists had suspected the presence of prehistoric remains because a 12th century documentary source records 'the croft of the three barrows' in this area. Parch marks of a possible sequence of ring ditches in University Parks had indicated that similar remains might be present on the Radcliffe site.

    The Saxon activity around the much earlier barrow cemetery is not uncommon and is recorded at other similar sites along the Thames. However, this is the first evidence for such a relationship in Oxford. The archaeologists are now working on the post-excavation phase of the project.

    Source: University of Oxford via
    https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106110557.htm
    [ Reply to This ]
    Re: Kendrew Quadrangle Henge by Andy B on Thursday, 18 January 2018
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    TVAS Monograph 17: The Oxford Henge and Late Saxon Massacre; with Medieval and Later Occupation at St John's College, Oxford

    Excavations at St John’s College in the heart of Oxford have dramatically altered our view of the prehistoric landscape, provided striking evidence of a massacre dating to around AD 1000, and shed light on the later occupation of the site: a suburb in the medieval period and later a farm.
    The earliest feature was a massive ditch interpreted as part of a henge. Its diameter of just over 150m places it in the monumental class, of which only around 20 are known in Britain. These large henges are often the focus of a wider ritual landscape. The chronology of the henge can be traced from its construction at the end of the late Neolithic, up to the time when it disappeared as a major feature in the landscape in early medieval times.
    Of particular significance is the discovery of at least 35 human skeletons, tumbled together into the depression left by the henge ditch. All were adult males, except two adolescents, all had met a violent death, many having been mutilated besides, and some partially burned. The evidence points towards these men being Danish victims of King Aethelred’s decree ordering their extermination in AD1002.
    A4 soft cover, 295pp, illustrated throughout including 170 colour plates
    ISBN 978-0-9561974-5-0
    Price: £24.00
    http://tvas.co.uk/publications.html
    [ Reply to This ]

Re: Kendrew Quadrangle Henge by Andy B on Friday, 22 August 2008
(User Info | Send a Message)
Another photo and article in the Oxford Mail:

http://www.oxfordmail.net/mostpopular.var.2401755.mostviewed.monumental_find.php
[ Reply to This ]

Your Name: Anonymous [ Register Now ]
Subject:


Add your comment or contribution to this page. Spam or offensive posts are deleted immediately, don't even bother

<<< What is five plus one as a number? (Please type the answer to this question in the little box on the left)
You can also embed videos and other things. For Youtube please copy and paste the 'embed code'.
For Google Street View please include Street View in the text.
Create a web link like this: <a href="https://www.megalithic.co.uk">This is a link</a>  

Allowed HTML is:
<p> <b> <i> <a> <img> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <tt> <li> <ol> <ul> <object> <param> <embed> <iframe>

We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.