Event/Activity EPM203 - Excavations at the George Inn, Portsdown Hill

Archaeological excavations were carried on Portsdown Hill in 1966 and 1967 ahead of works to divert the junction of the A3 London Road and B2177 Portsdown Hill Road near the George Inn. Investigates were carried out as a number of sources had recorded the presence of a Neolithic long barrow within the area of the works and the discovery of burials to the east and west of the barrow. One source suggested a large mound to the south-east of the George Inn as the site of the barrow. A trench excavated through the mound in December 1966 proved this to be modern, and the 1964 Ordnance Survey map firmly placed the barrow on the west side of the A3. However, a Saxon burial was discovered cut into the chalk beneath the modern mound.