 |
These excavations by Oxford Archaeological Unit, wholly funded by EH, were completed in the spring of 1992, and post-excavation analysis of the results is now well underway. Six major phases of occupation were identified, beginning with a large rectangular Bronze Age enclosure ditch, surrounding a single surviving round-house and overlain by a probable Roman plough-soil. The next phase of occupation was characterised by early to middle Saxon sunken-feature buildings, five of which were identified. By the eighth century, when the documentary evidence points to the establishment of a minster church, a sequence of post-built structures were evident, their orientation echoing that of the prehistoric enclosure. Animal bone evidence suggests a relatively abrupt transition from a rural settlement, producing its own animal resources, to a high status consumer community, as would be expected of a proto-monastic community centred on a minster church.
The foundation of the abbey in 1005 led to a major rebuilding programme in stone. Interpretation of the ground-plan has identified the possible south-west corner of the cloister, with a further courtyard to the south, associated with a hall, a cellared range, and domestic buildings, the whole complex bounded to the south by a perimeter ditch. The abbey was abandoned after the Norman Conquest, yet the evidence suggests that although the precinct buildings were demolished, the site was not deserted for long, as the documentary evidence asserts. A large late-eleventh-century kitchen was identified, with substantial hearths and nearby rubbish pits. This may indicate that although the abbey was defunct, the estate was still controlled from a manor on the site.
The re-foundation of the abbey in 1109 led to a complete rebuilding of the precinct, on a corrected east-west alignment. The layout followed the conventional Benedictine plan. The excavations exposed the southern half of the cloisters, the frater, a large kitchen, and an associated walled courtyard and cellared building, and a domestic block with attached reredorter. There was evidence that the first version of the kitchen was intended to have ovens set into turrets at the south-west and south-east corners, but for some reason the building was never used (possibly it was never finished), and was replaced by a more conventional structure. This rebuilt kitchen survived in use until the second half of the sixteenth century and contained over 200 accumulated mortar floors, hearths, and ashy occupation layers, up to 0.7m deep.
A complicated arrangement of drains and garderobe pits in the southern part of the site suggest that a high status building, possibly the guest quarters, lay immediately south of the excavated area. The stratigraphic evidence indicates that although the claustral buildings survived to the Dissolution (albeit with some rebuilding suggested by the analysis of window glass and fragments of worked stone) some of the outlying buildings to the south were demolished by the end of the fifteenth century. Although this might indicate a decline in the abbey's wealth, the animal bone analysis shows that a consistently high standard of the quality and variety of the diet was maintained throughout the monastic period. By far the largest assemblages of later medieval pottery came from courtyard middens and the infilling of the latrine pits and garderobes in the early-sixteenth century. Prior to this there was clearly a more disciplined system of rubbish disposal, entailing its removal from the vicinity of the excavated area.
A major innovation in the post-excavation analysis has been the digitising of all the site plans and major sections, using FastCAD. This has proved invaluable in clarifying the very complex stratigraphy of the site, in particular that of the earlier phases of activity, by enabling any combination or overlay of plans to be viewed simultaneously, with earlier or later activity removed. It is hoped that the final publication drawings will be derived almost entirely from the digitised drawings, with minimal pen-and-ink work necessary. Work is also underway to develop 3D reconstructions of the late Saxon and medieval precincts using the same computer programs. The techniques developed for Eynsham will undoubtedly benefit future post-excavation programmes, particularly those involving deep and complex stratigraphy. Although publication not due until 1998, it is already clear that what was essentially a rescue excavation has enabled the full development of the origins, foundation, development, and economy of a major religious house to be studied in considerable detail. Furthermore, the early Saxon and Prehistoric evidence is of major importance in its own right.