Event/Activity EPM200 - Crows Nest Garage, Portsdown Hill

Work to install a new petrol storage tank at the Crow's Nest Service Station, near Widley Walk Portsdown Hill, was undertaken by Messrs. Dawson and Henderson in March and April 1972. The old field surface (then a raised lawn) to the east of the main building, and approximately 10m clear of it, was cut back by mechanical digger and the tank installed and filled in. A wedge of bank between the tank and rear of the building was then cut back by hand, and a grave containing the remains of a skeleton was observed by the contractors on the 4th April. The upper part of a skull had been discarded on a spoil heap a few days earlier. The contractors extracted some of the bones from the grave, and the remaining bones were removed by the police who also took monochrome photographs. The remains were sent for forensic examination, possibly at Aldermaston. Members of the South Hampshire Archaeology Rescue Group (SHARG) learned of the discovery on the 5th April after it was reported in The News, and hastily searched the remaining debris from the hole and took measurements of the grave, which was to be filled in the following day. It was not possible to search the loose fill from the grave for associated finds, as this had previously been removed and hardcore laid over it. Portsmouth Museum staff also learned of the find through the news article and visited the site on the morning of the 6th April, but concrete laying was underway and the grave no longer accessible. A fragment of bone and a sherd of pottery were donated to Portsmouth Museum, accession no. 1972/533. The whereabouts of the skeleton is not known. The Crows Nest Garage has since been demolished, and a block of flats called 'Portsdown Heights' now occupies the site. The location of the grave is approximate, and has been estimated using a roughly drawn plan (not to scale) from 1972.