ANGLO-SAXON OXFORDSHIRE

BISHOPS COURT, DORCHESTER - AN ANGLO-SAXON CEMETERY

A rectangular ditched enclosure known as Bishops Court Rectangle was partially excavated in 1957-58 by Jeffrey May and the Oxford University Archaeology Society, with Humphrey Case and Professor C.F.C. Hawkes, prior to its destruction by gravel digging.

Material from the site suggested it was probably a Romano-British farmstead which continued to be used into the Anglo-Saxon period. Anglo-Saxon pottery together with a barrel lock were found in the ditches.

Janus headed barrel lock (AN1993.50)

An Anglo-Saxon cemetery was also excavated containing at least eight burials. In the burials were found Saxon and Romano-British pottery, together with two iron knives. These finds suggest that the site was inhabited until the sixth century and possibly into the seventh century.

The finds from this site are now held by the Ashmolean Museum.

REFERENCES:

J. May (1977) "Romano-British and Saxon Sites near Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire", Oxoniensia, XLII, p47-53.