Event/Activity EPM119 - Archaeological Watching Brief at Winton House, Portsdown Hill Road, Portsmouth

An archaeological watching brief was carried out by Southampton Archaeology Unit on groundworks associated with the construction of an annexe to rear of the back garden of Winton House, Portsdown Hill Road, in 2011. The groundworks included level reductions, foundation trenches and service trenches. A total of eight foundation trenches were excavated. Trenches 1-4 were footings for external walls and measured 1.3m-1.6m deep and were 0.8m wide. Trenches 5-8, the footings for internal walls, were 1m deep and 0.6m wide. The site is situated on Portsdown Hill within an area of archaeological potential, defined as being of particular interest for Prehistoric archaeology, although there are also Saxon burial sites and Roman finds nearby. The site of an oval Bronze Age Barrow, 'Gob's Barrow', is situated within the grounds of Winton House. The only archaeological feature observed was a pit sealed beneath the subsoil in the north west of the site. This contained two fragments of burnt flint, possibly indicating a prehistoric date. Accession number: 2011/20