Event/Activity EPM72 - An archaeological watching brief at 149 Kingston Road, Kingston, Portsmouth, Hants

Archaeological watching brief carried out during the construction of a three-storey building containing thirteen flats at Kingston, Portsmouth. Engineer's test pits excavated prior to the digging of foundations, suggested the Kingston Road frontage had been disturbed by brick housing with cellars. Three trenches (extended test pits) were subsequently excavated in February 2004, and a fourth in May. It is possible that more extensive cellaring uncovered on the southern edge of the site in Trench 4 may have belonged to 'Percy House', shown on the 1870 OS map. A soil strip was observed in August 2004, and two parallel sondages were excavated by machinery under the supervision of C. Currie. This revealed that the site had been lagely disturbed by terraced housing, as shown on the 1909 OS map. This housing had been demolished by 1937, and the area was later reveloped in order to build the recently demolished 'Stirling House'. In the north east corner of the site demolition rubble overlay an introduced layer of chalk of varying thickness. It is possible this chalk layer was associated with a later 18th/19th century phase of the historic 'Swann Farm', which may have been on the very northern edge of the site. There was no evidence of medieval or early post-medieval development. No artefacts older than occasional 19th century ceramics were recovered. Museum Accession number 2004/327