Monument MPM1081 - 179-183 Fratton Road

Post-medieval and 19th/20th century features recorded during a watching brief at 179-183 Fratton Road in 2006. The earliest feature was a post-medieval or early modern pit which contained fragments of roof tile dating to the 16th-19th centuries. Brick structures and pits dating to the 19th/20th century were also recorded, some of which were associated with former buildings on the site.

Observations made during a watching brief at 179-183 Fratton Road in 2006. Features, including two cellars and a wall, probably related to former 19th century buildings which stood on the site. Finds included 19th/20th century pottery and brick.

The earliest feature was a post-medieval/early modern pit, measuring 0.72m in length by 0.52m wide. The pit had two fills, one of which contained oyster shells and two fragments of 16th-19th century peg tile. Four further pits dating to the 19th/20th century were observed. Two of these contained fragments of brick, a sherd of late 19th century china with sprigged mauve thistles, five fragments of furnace clinker and one bird bone. The fill of the third pit contained three sherds of 19th/20th century pottery, and the fill of the fourth contained a fragment of post-medieval/earlymodern brick and a 19th century blue glass medicine bottle.

Two brick-lined features (30 & 38) had walls constructed from red brick and lime mortar. These had been backfilled with soil fills. Feature 30 was 1.6m in length and its fill contained a post 1850 brick, fragment of 19th/20th century flower pot, fragment of sewer pipe, a sherd of 19th century plate decorated with Asiatic Pheasants, and two sherds of 19th/20th century Fareham crockery. Feature 38 had two brick walls with a fill between them. This fill contained a sherd of 19th century Fareham pottery.

A large feature (44) measuring 4m in length by 2m deep contained six fills. No finds were recovered. A construction trench for a red brick and mortar wall (feature 53), remaining at a height of 0.89m, was thought to have possibly belonged to a former building at the rear of 179-183 Fratton Road. The construction trench for a concrete foundation of a former house was also observed.

Two cellars were revealed during the work. One cellar (42) measured 1.04m in length by 1.8m deep, and was constructed of red bricks with lime mortar. This dated to the 18th/19th century and was possibly part of a larger structure visible on the 1896 OS map at the rear of 179 Fratton Road. The second cellar (12) measuring 15m in length by 4m in width, was also constructed of red brick bonded with lime mortar. This was located at the south-east corner of the site at its junction with Stamford Street and Fratton Road, and was filled with brick and mortar rubble. The size and position of the cellar suggested that it could have been associated with a 19th century building which stood at 179 Fratton Road.

Unstratified finds recovered from the site consisted of a 19th century salt-glazed ink bottle, five sherds of 19th/20th century crockery, china and stoneware, and the base of a large 20th century glass jar or bottle.

Accession number 2006/1526

Thompson, G L, 2006, Watching brief at 179-183 Fratton Road, Portsmouth. (Unpublished document). SPM95.