Event/Activity EPM87 - Watching brief at Whitehall Public house, 215 Kingston Road, Portsmouth

Watching brief carried out during groundworks for a development of a block of twelve flats and a maisonette at the former Whitehall Public House, Kingston Road, Portsmouth. Sixteen foundation and drainage trenches were observed, and the natural brickearth was reached in all but one. Trenches for a house at the west end of the site were not observed. The trenches exposed natural deposits, a deposit of garden soil up to 900mm thick, cut by a series of pits, an 18th century well, and post-medieval and 19th century walls. The finds were dominated by creamware eating and drinking vessels and clay pipe stems, indicating the public house was operating in the mid to late 18th century. Medieval Kingston was not identified, but it was thought likely that medieval and post-medieval houses had stood on the site of the last Whitehall public house, and that any trace had been removed by the pubs 19th century cellar. Accession number 2006/458