Event/Activity EPM80 - Watching brief on land behind 27 London Road, North End, Portsmouth, Hants.

Watching brief carried out during the development of a block of flats on land at the rear of 27 London Road. Archaeological observations were restricted, due to the method of making the foundations by piling. A trench was dug along the southern edge of the site against the party wall in which to remove superfluous concrete footings of the adjoining brick wall and make 14 boreholes for piles. Boreholes were dug at regular intervals in order to make foundations elsewhere on the site. The wide borer, 30mm diameter, enabled observation into the hole in order to see the side, but prevented further more detailed work being undertaken. The only real evidence of activity was a dark silty soil in the side of a borehole near the east side of the site, which suggested a discreate post-medieval pit had been disturbed. Few human artefacts were seen. It appears the site had always been a small undeveloped area, first being shown in detail on a map of 1838 as the garden to a house in London Road. There was no clear evidence to suggest any subsequent building had been undertaken on the site. Accession number 2003/1924