Untitled - Council for British Archaeology

62OXFORDSHIRE COUATY COUNCIL DEPARTMENT OF MUSEUM SERVICESFIELD SECTION - John Steane and James BondSITES AND MONUMENTS RECORDThe addition of new material to the County Sites and Monuments Recordcontinues, and at the time of writing, the record contains details of some11,200 archaeological sites and buildings in the county.The major event of the year has been the transfer of the Sites and MonumentsRecord, together with the Field Section offices, the AntiquitiesSection, and the Biological Record Centre, into more commodious-accommodationin a new building in the garden of the Oxfordshire County Museum at Woodstock.This opened its doors to the public in October 1977. For the first time forsome years all components of the Record can now be housed within a singleroom, which makes retrieval a much easier process.The most important single bulk accession to the Record this year hasbeen the papers of the late Mr. Peter Spokes, comprising a vast quantity ofphotographs, drawings, notes, and correspondence on Oxfordshire buildings.This material is currently being processed for inclusion into the Record byElizabeth Leggatt.A further major contribution to the Record has come from Mr. & Mrs. EricEustace of Kirtlington, who have redoubtably continued their county-widesurvey of Non-conformist chapels, and have added no less than thirty to theSites and Monuments Record this year. They have researched into the documentaryhistory, including Bishops' Registers, Directories and 1851 ReligiousCensus, and have described the buildings themselves, their locations, furnishings,memorials and gravestones. Another significant addition has beenthe survey of buildings in Lewknor parish by the Lewknor Historical Society.Further air photographs have been received from the National Monuments Recordand from Professor St. Joseph.PLANNING MATTERSThe work of liaison with the County and District Planning Departmentscontinues to be operated jointly by the Department of Museum Services and theOxfordshire Archaeological Unit.Perhaps the greatest success of the year has been the decision of theSecretary of State over the appeal against the refusal of planning permissionfor sand and gravel extraction at Northfield Farm, Long Wittenham. TheInspector accepted the great archaeological importance of the area, the factthat rescue excavation at this stage would be both unsatisfactory and costly,and the need to retain the area as a reserve for investigation by future generations.The appeal was dismissed on the grounds that the need for mineralsdid not outweigh the archaeological and environmental objections to theproposed development.The development of minerals policies for the county continues to carryimportant archaeological implications. Gravel areas in the Windrush valleyare currently the subject of a Local Plan, in which the archaeological factorhas been fully considered from the early stages. In the ironstone areasof north Oxfordshire the Museum was requested to carry out a survey and evaluationof the historic landscape of 38 parishes for the County MineralsWorking Party.