Monument MPM1094 - Victoria Road North

The remains of late-19th century terraced housing recorded during a watching brief in 2007. Earlier deposits on the site may have related to medieval/post-medieval agricultural activity and late-18th/19th century occupation. Re-used 18th/19th century bricks in late-19th century cellar walls may have been re-cycled from earlier houses shown on pre-19th century maps.

Observations made during a watching brief in 2007 revealed deposits dating from the post-medieval period to the 19th century, and the remains of 19th century housing on the site.

Evidence of possible medieval and post-medieval agricultural activity was present in a layer of brickearth observed across the west of the site. These deposits also contained fragments of brick and mortar, which may have related to a phase of late-18th to late-19th century occupation.

The earliest deposits found on the site contained mortar and brick fragments and a possible cobbled surface of worn chert and limestone. These probably belonged to scattered buildings in the area shown on pre-19th century maps. 18th/19th century bricks re-used in the later 19th century cellar walls may have been re-cycled from these earlier houses. Due to the extent of 19th century development on the site, it was not possible to distinguish the plans of the earlier buildings. An absence of domestic rubbish from this early phase of occupation was thought to suggest the inhabitants were engaged in agriculture, and the rubbish spread on the fields as manure.

Terraced housing with cellars was constructed on the site in the late-19th century. Evidence of these buildings was observed as a series of brick walls across much of the site, and the remains of foundations and concrete/brick built cellars. Some of the cellar walls, which dated to the late 19th century, contained re-used 18th/19th century bricks.

A series of layers/contexts related to the demolition of the 19th century buildings and landscaping of the site. One layer of sandy loam 1m thick observed across much of the site, contained fragments of brick, sandstone window frames and slates. The rubble infill of one cellar contained large amounts of bricks and mortar and fragments of window stone, while the infill of another cellar was more mixed with large amounts of brick rubble, worked limestone blocks, fragments of Verwood pottery, plastic, glass bottles and concrete. A layer of soil had been spread over the demolished houses. Above this layer was the topsoil, which contained fragments of brick and concrete.


Accession number 2007/13

McDonald, E L, 2007, Archaeological watching brief at Victoria Road North, Portsmouth (Unpublished document). SPM109.