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Littlemore Priory

Date

October 2024

Location

Oxford and St Andrews

Littlemore Priory was a monastic community for women founded in the early twelfth century. The priory would operate until its secularisation in 1525. Excavations at the site undertaken by John Moore Archaeology revealed the possible site of both a chapterhouse and an anchorhold adjacent to the north side of the nave. Some of the 92 burials recovered from the site, now in the curatorial care of Oxfordshire Museum Services, will be transferred temporarily to the St Andrews lab for further study in early 2025.

There is a rich documentary record for Littlemore -- including significant charges of sexual misconduct and violence at the hand of the abbess lodged by the bishops of Lincoln against the nuns in 1516-1517. Our holistic study -- from text to teeth -- promises to shed new light on the daily life and activities at Littlemore from the twelfth to the sixteenth century -- and move beyond the dominant narrative of "naughty nuns."

TeamNun will be adding to previous osteological work, dental calculus analysis, and stable isotope analysis in this new collaboration.

Check here for updates as this fascinating assemblage of human remains joins TeamNun!

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