Event/Activity EPM235 - Watching Brief at the Vulcan Building, Gunwharf

An archaeological watching brief was carried out by Gifford and Partners on the excavation of seven test pits in and around the Vulcan Building at Gunwharf Quays in March and May 1999. The pits were excavated to establish the nature of the buildings foundations ahead of restoration and conservation work. Archaeological monitoring was required as the Vulcan Building is a Scheduled Monument. Five pits were excavated outside the building using a mechanical digger on 25th March, two of which were within the area of the demolished northern wing. The external walls of the building were found to have brick and concrete foundations which varied in depth between 1m and nearly 2.9m. The pits within the former northern wing showed that only the above ground structure had been removed, the walls below ground surviving to a depth of 2.6m. A further two pits were excavated by hand inside the building on the 24th May. The spine wall at the southern end of the central block had foundations built of brick and stone ranging in depth from 0.78 at the southern end to 0.9m at the northern end.