Ashmolean Museum: Oxfordshire's Historic Archives

Oxfordshire's Historic Archives
Preserving and Enhancing Access to Historic Oxfordshire
Records of Archaeological Work held by the Ashmolean Museum

The Archives
Percy Manning (1870-1917) Percy Manning carried out excavations at the Roman station at Alchester and in the city of Oxford while still an undergraduate, and later recorded the demolition of numerous medieval buildings. He collected widely from the county, amassing a collection of ceramics described as one of the most important in England; he also compiled materials for an archaeological gazetteer of the county, which survive in his archive.
	The archive consists of five quarto box files containing individual files of notes about the archaeology of specific Oxfordshire parishes. There are 245 parish files and approximately 2,000 sheets of notes. This archive has now been catalogued and conserved. *More about the Manning Archive* *Search the Manning Archive database*
Martyn Jope (1915-1996) Professor of Archaeology at Belfast University, Jope spent much of his lifetime excavating in Oxford and in the process laid the foundations of medieval archaeology within the city. This in turn has formed a model for the development of medieval archaeology as a specific subject area elsewhere in England.
	The archive has only recently come to the Ashmolean and consists of several cardboard boxes including unsorted rolled archaeological plans, manuscript reports, artwork and proof copies of articles. Additional material was deposited with the museum during the course of the project and will be catalogued in due course. This archive has now been catalogued and conserved. *More about the Jope Archive*
Donald Harden (1901-1994) He excavated widely in Oxfordshire while serving as a curator at the Ashmolean Museum from 1929 to1956, most notably at Ditchley Roman villa and the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Abingdon. Along with his mentor, E.T. Leeds, he played a major part in forwarding the treatment of the entire area as an archaeological entity.
	The archive consists of one box file with two spiral-bound notebooks, one quarto jotter, five rolled drawings of skulls, and some excavation photographs and plans. This archive has now been catalogued and conserved. *More about the Harden Archive*
George Rolleston (1829-1881) Professor of anatomy and physiology at Oxford University from 1860 until his death, he uncovered over 130 graves in his excavations at Frilford and also recorded important discoveries at Dorchester. He was, in the words of one contemporary, "an excellent example of what the science of archaeology may become under the quickening influences of the scientific spirit of the nineteenth century".
	At the time of the application, the archive consisted of two foolscap box files, with 500 sheets per box representing 40 separate essays reports and other essays. Just before the start of the project, a further eight box files of documents were found and transferred from the Sackler Library. This archive has now been catalogued. *More about the Rolleston Archive*
Christopher Musgrave (died 1978) Born in New Zealand, he was a physical anthropologist who worked on excavations with E.T. Leeds and on human remains from several Oxfordshire sites. His notebooks contain detailed excavation drawings and notes on a range of sites from the Oxford region.
	The archive consists of six A4 box files with notes and correspondence relating to excavations, 50 envelopes, 20 sheets per envelope. This archive has now been catalogued.
Click here for information about the structure of the archives