Event/Activity EPM8 - Anker Bakery, Highbury Street

Portsmouth Museum Service carried out an excavation on land between St. Thomas' Street and Highbury Street in 1975, prior to the site being redeveloped for housing (the area is now centred on 'Hanover Court'). The main aim of the investigation was to recover evidence of the Anker bakery, a substantial building which is marked on town plans of 1545 and 1584 at the junction of St Thomas' Street and Highbury Street. A comparison between the 16th century plans and the 1972 OS map suggested the site of the bakery was adjacent to the southwest wall of No. 88 St Thomas' Street, built 1837. Excavations were carried out within three areas across the site (Areas 1-3). The excavation revealed that any evidence of the Anker bakery had been obliterated by later activity on the site, principally the cellarage of the 19th century County Court which had been destroyed during Second World War bombing raids. However, there was evidence of late medieval occupation. Post-18th century development had taken place immediately above the late medieval occupation, and there was no obvious evidence of 15th-early 18th century occupation, the finds of that date being a few small sherds from unstratified contexts. Accession number 1975/323