It has always seemed likely that Boarstall Village and the gardens of Boarstall House (demolished 1778) were rich in archaeology.

Boarstall is not recorded in the Domesday Book (1086) but Boarstall church existed by 1142 so the village and Boarstall House must have existed before then.

There was a thriving pottery industry in Brill and Boarstall in medieval times and remains of kilns have been found in Boarstall. Examples of Brill/Boarstall pottery are to be found in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. For further information on Brill/Boarstall pottery, click here.

A Geophys survey done by the National Trust in the gardens of Boarstall Tower, formerly the gardens of demolished Boarstall House, suggested that the foundations of Boarstall House were still in situ under the lawn.

In 2008, the National Trust participated in National Archaeology Week at Boarstall. This was a most successful dig, with five trenches being opened based on the Geophys and these were located exactly where they should have been in relation to the house.