Event/Activity EPM91 - Watching brief at the proposed Nuffield Sports Hall, Cambridge Road, Portsmouth, Hants

Watching brief at the site of the proposed Nuffield Sports Hall undertaken by CKC Archaeology on the 29th, 30th and 31st January, and the 4th February 2003. Observations were made during the excavation of footings on the west, east and north sides of the site, together with part of the foundation pits on the south. The foundations were excavated in roughly rectangular form, and pads for piles 3m by 2m dug along these lines at regular intervals. The site was expected to produce remains of the Amhurst Redoubt and it's moat (part of the late 18th century fortifications of Portsmouth and Portsea), however no archaeological features were observed. There was some evidence that a soil strip had taken place prior to the previous development on the site from the 1930s onwards, although it is very unlikely this would have removed all trace of the fortification. The only possible trace of the Redoubt was a large lump of stone found in the backfill of a late post-medieval land drain in the north-east corner of the site, some distance from where the Redoubt was thought to have been. Due to the lack of archaeological evidence it is possible that the map evidence is inaccurate and that the Redoubt lay outside the area of the development site. Accession number 2002/976