Sir –The archive photograph that you published on February 19 of the Queen’s visit to the St Ebbe’s excavations in 1968 in advance of the construction of Westgate reminded me of the occasion eight years later when Her Majesty, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, returned to Oxford to open the shopping centre and the state-of-the-art, multi-storey car park.
On this second visit, the Queen requested that, in addition to seeing the completed buildings, she should be shown the results of the excavations. Accordingly Douglas Murray, the City Architect and Planning Officer, and I, as the Director of Excavations, once again accompanied the royal party with the then Lord Mayor, Bill Fagg.
After Douglas and I had given our explanations, the Duke of Edinburgh looked up at the building, turned to us and, in his inimitable style, said: ‘I wonder when this lot will be pulled down and excavated’. Douglas’s face was a picture.
Little did we know then that the car park and the section of Westgate where we were standing would indeed be demolished nearly 40 years later, while Oxford Archaeology have already begun excavations on the site of the new John Lewis store.
Tom Hassall, Oxford
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