Monument MPM1089 - Catherine Booth House

Three 18th/early-19th century pits and a 19th century wall observed during an archaeological watching brief in 2002. The pits may have related to gravel digging during the 17th and 18th centuries, prior to the development of the town of Portsea. The wall may either have been a boundary wall or have been associated with late-19th century terraced housing.

A watching brief in 2002 revealed possible evidence of gravel digging near to the site, and the remains of late-19th century terraced housing.

Three pits dating to the 18th/early-19th century were observed below brick arches in the base of later brick walls. The exact purpose of the arches was not determined, but it is possible they were supporting arches for the walls. The first pit may have contained some late-17th and 18th century ceramics, as seen in section in the trench. These included a fragment of Westwald pottery and a rim of trailed slipware plate. This pit was 1.65m below the ground surface, 0.9m wide and 0.8m deep. The second pit was 1.4m wide at its base and 1m deep. It's fill contained willow-pattern ware of a late-18th and 19th century date. This pit appeared to have another, much deeper, pit cut through it.

The digging of the pits, and the gravels into which they were cut, suggests that some gravel had been redeposited in the area. This was possibly brought in from another site and used as 'dump' soil to infill gravel pits before the town of Portsea was built across the site. These dumps appear to have been spread unevently across parts of the site. The redeposited soils appear to have been up to 2.7m deep, suggesting much activity in the 17th and 18th centuries, prior to the 19th century layout of Portsea.

The brick wall above the pits may either have been a boundary wall relating to a property boundary shown on the 1856 Ordnance Survey map, or have formed part of staggered backs walls belonging to terraced housing shown on the site from 1898 onwards. The staggered nature might account for possible breaks that were observed in the wall. The terraced houses appear to have survived Second World War bombing, and are still shown on the 1958 Ordnance Survey map. They appear to have been demolished by 1973 when a play area was laid out on the site.

Accession number 2002/207

Currie, C K, 2002, An archaeological watching brief at Catherine Booth House, Queen Street, Portsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire (Unpublished document). SPM103.