Excavations at All Souls, High Street Project, Oxford

Excavations within the basement have revealed the presence of an Anglo-Saxon road, including sections of original paving alongside the faint outlines of earlier building footprints and a historic drainage channel. The alignment and material of the road point to an early phase in the formation of Oxford’s High Street, situating the site within a much older pattern of movement and occupation. 

These findings reinforce the depth of continuity embedded within the city. The discoveries do not interrupt the architectural ambition of the project, but instead extend its context, offering a clearer understanding of the ground on which it stands.

Above, the removal of modern finishes has begun to reveal the underlying Georgian structure with greater clarity. Stone walling has re-emerged, alongside the precise geometry of ‘check’ window reveals, and a stone arch spanning the central Diocletian window. These elements, previously obscured, re-establish the compositional logic of the building and bring forward a level of craft and proportion that had been concealed by later alterations.