Find Spot MPM1087 - Skeleton, Guildhall Square

Inhumation burial discovered in front of the Guildhall steps in 1989 (exact location unknown). Iron nails from a wooden coffin had survived. The date of the burial is not known.

The remains of an inhumation burial (skeleton) were discovered in front of the Guildhall steps on the 7th June 1989. The discovery was made when holes were being dug to accept fastening eyes for a large marquee that was being erected as part of the Portsmouth Festivities. A police pathologist confirmed the remains were more than 50 years old, and they were excavated by the Portsmouth Museum Service Keeper of Archaeology. The remains had been buried in a wooden coffin, although only the iron nails had survived. The grave had been cut into the natural gravel. The feet end of the burial had been damaged by modern trenching, which had resulted in the loss of some of the bones from the right foot. Some of the bones from the left arm had been destroyed by the cutting of the hole for the marquee. [1]

The exact location is unknown, as a detailed report does not appear to have been completed. The skeleton is held in the museum collection. [2]

<1> Fox, Russ, 1989, Notes on skeleton from Guildhall Square June 1989 (Excavation archive). SPM269.

<2> 1989, Skeleton from Guildhall Square (Artifact). SPM101.