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Discoveries made during excavations in Oxford have confirmed the original defensive perimeter of the then Anglo-Saxon town.An area around Oriel College was investigated by Oxford Archaeology during refurbishment works on its bar and kitchens.Experts found the remains of a ditch, indicating where the defences originally stood, confirming that Oxford in about 900AD was much smaller than the medieval town it went on to become...Excavations outside the Bodleian Library in 1899 previously revealed a section of wall thought to be the original town's north-eastern corner...Oxford Archaeology said it gave "credibility" to theories that the early fortified Oxford was smaller and had...

Oxford University's statue of Cecil Rhodes is to stay in place after furious donors threatened to withdraw gifts and bequests worth more than £100 million if it was taken down, The Daily Telegraph has learned. The governing body of Oriel College, which owns the statue, has ruled out its removal after being warned that £1.5m worth of donations have already been canceled, and that it faces dire financial consequences if it bows to the Rhodes Must Fall student campaign. ...

'Rhodesgate': Campaign To Remove Rhodes statue 'Is Like Isil's Destruction of Antiques', Says Oxford Don The campaign to remove a Cecil Rhodes statue from Oriel College is like Isil’s destruction of antiquities because it is showing no respect for history, a prominent Oxford emeritus fellow has said By Javier Espinoza, 22 Dec 2015 The campaign to remove a Cecil Rhodes statue from Oriel College is like Isil’s destruction of antiquities, a prominent Rhodes scholar has said. “I am comparing what the [Rhodes Must Fall] movement are doing with what Al Qaeda and Isis are doing in places like Mali when...

Politically Correct Universities 'Are Killing Free Speech' British universities have become too politically correct and are stifling free speech by banning anything that causes the least offence to anyone, academics argue Javier Espinoza, and Gordon Rayner 18 Dec British universities have become too politically correct and are stifling free speech by banning anything that causes the least offence to anyone, a group of leading academics warns on Saturday. A whole generation of students is being denied the “intellectual challenge of debating conflicting views” because self-censorship is turning campuses into over-sanitised “safe spaces”, they say. Their intervention comes as an Oxford...