Monument MPM1106 - Pits, St Thomas' Street

Three pits were observed during a watching brief in 2010 on groundworks for a new house (now 101 St. Thomas' Street) on land adjacent to 100 St. Thomas Street. Two of these pits were probably horticultural in nature, and a third may have been related to post-medieval brickearth extraction. Finds comprised 17th-18th century animal bone, oyster shell, roof tile, clay pipe and a sherd of pottery.

Three pits were observed during a watching brief on groundworks for a new house (now 101 St. Thomas' Street) on land adjacent to 100 St. Thomas Street in 2010. Two of these pits were probably horticultural in nature, and a third may have been related to post-medieval brickearth extraction.

The first pit was 0.7m wide and extended 0.12m below overlying garden soil. Its fill was a dark clay silt which contained charcoal, but no artefacts. Its exact date and function were not identified, but it was pre-modern and may have been a horticultural feature. The second pit was 1.5m NS, 1m EW and extended 0.2m below overlying garden soil. No artefacts were recovered. The date and function of the pit were not identified, but it is possible it may have been a tree-hole or some other type of horticultural feature. The third pit was at least 2.5m EW and extended 0.45 into the trench from the south. Its fill was the same mid brown clay silt as the overlying garden soil, but with a higher proportion of gravel. The fill contained fragments of animal bone, pottery, oyster shell, roof tile and clay pipe dating to the 17th-18th centuries. Although its original function was unclear, it may have been used for the extraction of clay (brickearth), and then backfilled with soil and domestic rubbish.

A layer of mid-brown clay silt overlay the pits and was present in all three trenches on the site. This contained occasional oyster shell and a single sherd of 18th century brown glazed pottery. This was interpreted as probable garden soil, as a garden is depicted on the 1762 map of the site.

Accession number: 2009/540

West Sussex Archaeology, 2010, Report on an Archaeological Watching Brief on Land Adjacent to 100 St. Thomas's Street, Portsmouth (Unpublished document). SPM120.