The eleven seasons of excavations at Marcham (aka Frilford) comprised nearly fifty trenches and produced a nationally important collection of structures and material culture. The unusual Iron Age enclosures are overlain by a stone-built Romano-British temple, and a remarkably well-preserved unusual arena (theatre/amphitheatre hybrid) together with several shrines. Material culture included c. 250,000 sherds of pottery, c. 22,000 pieces of animal bone, over 2,500 Romano-British coins and over sixty copper-alloy brooches. The site records comprise information on thousands of contexts and c. 4,000 excavation photographs.
Excavations started in the late 19th century and have continued spasmodically since. The work described here is that carried out by The University of Oxford between the years 2001 and 2011 directed by Professors Gary Lock and Chris Gosden. The excavation was a training excavation for Oxford undergraduates and Continuing Education students as well as attracting many local volunteers through Heritage Lottery funding and local contacts. Subsequent post-excavation work was also funded by the Lottery and other sources and trained many volunteers.
The site has a long span of use starting with a ditched enclosure in the Middle Bronze Age which was replaced by a range of Iron Age features including enclosures, pits and burials which all seem to be of a ritual rather than domestic character. A major theme is the continuity of this place as a sacred site which saw the Iron Age features being replaced by a Romano-British temple with an associated arena, shrines and other structures. The final evidence suggests Anglo-Saxon activity before the site was abandoned.
