Event/Activity EPM104 - Archaeological Watching Brief at 61 St Thomas's Street, Portsmouth

Southampton Archaeology Unit undertook a watching brief at 61 St Thomas' Street, Old Portsmouth, during alterations to waterproof the basement and create more head room. The building is Grade II listed. A total of four trenches were dug in the basement. Trenches 1 and 2 were test pits in the northern and southern parts of the basement. Trenches 3 and 4 were level reduction in the southern and northern rooms. The natural was observed 0.25m to 0.3m below the cellar floor in all trenches. A limestone flagged floor, which may have been the original cellar floor, was observed during the work. Below this were two pits filled with limestone blocks, mortar and fragments of post-medieval brick, which were very wet and possibly soakaways. Above the limestone floor was a layer of mortar bonded roof tiles, and above this was a brick floor. A brick and tile rectangular feature dating to the post-medieval period, possibly a sump, was observed in the north-west corner of the cellar. It is possible the floor level may have been raised due to flooding. Accession Number: 2007/227