Event/Activity EPM28 - Archaeological watching brief at 55 Havant Road, North End

The report for the archaeological watching brief during redevelopment of a site at 55 Havant Road, North End, Portsmouth, Planning Application Number A*14273/AD. The watching brief revealed no archaeological features earlier than the 19th century. Throughout most of the medieval and post medieval period much of the site lay on the edge of a large agricultural open field called Beeston Field. This was enclosed in 1822 and remained in agricultural use until between 1879 and 1898, when suburban spread rapidly overtook the area. Three 19th or early 2oth century pits were excavated near the north west corner of the site. One was a brick lined feature, associated with the remains of what was though to be an outbuilding used for industrial work. This pit contained much rusted iron, and a large number of cylindrical metal containers, suggesting an industrial process of some sort. A very large, deep pit was excavated over much of the eastern part of the site. This was up to 3.6 metres deep and covered an area of over 100 square metres. It was infilled with relatively recent material, and was thought to have been a gravel pit dug just prior to suburban development spread across the site in the 1880s and early 1890s. It is possible that the gravel was rapidly extracted to make a quick profit on the demand for this material during this suburban expansion. Accession number: 2002/582