Event/Activity EPM249 - Archaeological Watching Brief at Southsea Castle 2021

West Sussex Archaeology Ltd carried out an archaeological watching brief during the refurbishment of the West Bailey toilets at Southsea Castle on the 25th January 2021. The work was undertaken for Portsmouth City Council as a condition of Scheduled Monument Consent granted for the refurbishment work. The West Bailey toilets are located within two casements on the north-eastern side of the bailey which date to c1813. The outer wall to the original Tudor castle was known to lie immediately to the south of the toilets. One trench was excavated in each of the casements in order to connect the toilets to existing sewer pipes under the south-west wall of the casements. The north-eastern edge of the outer wall of the Tudor castle was revealed in both trenches. Both walls were found to have previously been punctured for soil pipes. The 1960s soil pipe had to be cut back in the eastern trench, resulting in more of the wall being exposed in this location than in the western trench. The walls were found at a depth of 0.3m in the eastern trench and 0.25m in the western trench. Stone wall footings and brick sleeper walls associated with two early 19th century casements were also revealed. The watching brief confirmed the location of the line of the outer face of the north wall of the Tudor castle. It also provided further evidence of how the castle was extended in the early 19th century. Museum accession No: 2021/3