Event/Activity EPM304 - Southsea Coastal Defence Scheme Sub-frontage 4, Southsea Castle, Watching Brief

Wessex Archaeology carried out a watching brief on groundworks in sub-frontage 4 of the Southsea Coastal Defence Scheme between the 8th February 2022 and the 8th August 2024. The work was commissioned by Coastal Partners in collaboration with Portsmouth City Council as part of the wider Southsea Coastal Defence Scheme Project. Sub-frontage 4 covered an area approximately 600m long which ran between the seaward side of the Blue Reef Aquarium, along the bandstand field and Southsea Castle, terminating just south west of the Pyramids Centre. The works monitored comprised groundworks in advance of the creation of an access route to the east of Southsea Castle and establishment of welfare units within the Bandstand Field immediately to the west of Southsea Castle, installation of drainage works and outfall pipes in the Bandstand Field, hydro demolition and breaking out of the existing promenade and revetement and subsequent installation of underground services. Scheduled Monument Consent was obtained for the works. Archaeological monitoring was carried out on 12 ground investigation pits, the removal of topsoil and the excavation of drainage trenches within the bandstand field, and the removal of modern tarmac and concrete on the promenade. Parts of the Edwardian promenade were removed in places. Six slit trenches were located along the existing promenade to target anomalies indicative of structures indicated by Ground Penetrating Radar Survey. Monitoring also took place on an access route and compound area to the north west of Southsea Castle. A number of archaeological remains were recorded during the watching brief, including walls belonging to earlier phases of Southsea Castle and its defences dating to the 17th and 19th centuries. The remains of 20th century structures relating to recreational use of the site were observed in the Bandstand field. In places earlier sea defences had reused swivel gun mounts within the revetment and promenade. The exact locations of the latter are not recorded in the watching brief report. Finds included post-medieval and modern pottery and glass, fragments of clay tobacco pipe and animal bone, the majority of which was associated with an undated wall. A relatively intact cast iron bell on a chain thought to date to the late post-medieval or modern period was recovered from a gravel deposit. This has not been recorded in a monument record as the location of the find is not recorded in the report. The polygons for the event record show the approximate location of the monitored area. Museum Accession No: 2020/51/4