Event/Activity EPM212 - Archaeological Watching Brief Phase 1A, The Jetties, HMNB, Portsmouth

An archaeological watching brief was carried out by Gifford and Partners on groundworks during refurbishment of the Western Jetties at HM Naval Base Portsmouth in c1999. This was the first phase of works observed by Gifford, known as Phase 1A (later work known as Phase 1B see EPM211), which constituted the construction of one long continuous jetty from the King's Stairs to Pitch House Jetty. Jetties constructed in the 1920s and 1930s were demolished to make way for the refurbishment work. As the site lay within Conservation Area No. 22 and indirectly affected Scheduled Ancient Monument 397 (No 1 Basin, 1 to 6 Docks and the associated masonry sea walls) there was the potential of encountering archaeological remains. Several buildings were demolished to allow the ground works to take place, and this phase was not monitored by an archaeologist. The buildings, situated on Sheer, Pitch House and Boat House Jetties, dated to the 1930s or later and were not historically important. Monitored groundworks comprised the excavation of foundations for a sub-station, a cable trench on a north-east south-west alignment with Dock No. 2 and a pipe trench 3m from the south end of the sub-station. The works also included an excavation to establish the depth of an unknown manhole on Pitch House Jetty, and the digging of test pits to ascertain the extent of a Portland stone culvert/tunnel discovered while investigating the manhole. A number of other archaeological features were recorded in addition to the culvert.