Find Spot MPM1108 - Features and finds probably related to early 20th century rubbish tipping

Features and deposits probably related to early 20th century rubbish tipping, revealed during an archaeological evaluation on the site of the Goal's building at Portsmouth College in 2009. Finds included pottery, china, clay pipe and glass.

Features and deposits probably related to early 20th century rubbish tipping, revealed during an archaeological evaluation excavation on the site of the Goal's building at Portsmouth College in 2009. One feature was probably a 19th/20th century disturbance in the top of the natural soil. The second feature contained finds including pottery, china and glass, and was possibly a rubbish pit or drainage ditch.

The natural soil in the noth-east corner of trench 3 (south west corner of the site) was cut by a linear feature (6), at least 1200mm long by 550mm wide and 80mm deep, on a north to south alignment. This had a V-shaped profile, flattening out to the north, and a single fill (7) of dark greyish brown silty clay loam which contained a small fragment of post-medieval ceramic roof tile. The feature was probably of a 19th or 20th century date, and may have been a disturbance in the top of the natural soil, rather than having been deliberately cut.

A sherd of 19th century china was recovered from a layer (2) 200m to 450mm thick of very dark greyish brown silty clay loam which overlay the natural soil and the fill of feature 6. This layer was a sub-base to the topsoil, and may have developed into the early 20th century. It was cut in the north end of trenches 2 and 4 by a large irregular feature (4/8). The full dimensions of the feature were not exposed, but it was 350mm to 420mm deep, and appeared to be aligned on a rough east to west axis parallel with Tangier Road. Its fill was a mixture of clinker and soil (5/9), which contained a large quantity of early-modern to modern finds, including; pottery, china, clay pipe and glass. The nature of the fills suggests it was the result of Corporation rubbish tipping known to have taken place in the area from the early 20th century. The large quantity of clinker may indicate that it came from a near-by incinerator which operated between c.1920 and 1931. The exact function of the feature was unclear, but it may have been dug as a rubbish pit, or could possibly have been a drainage ditch on the south side of Tangier Road.

Similar deposits to the above, including a quantity clinker, had been noted in thicker made ground deposits revealed when boreholes were sunk to the east of the site (north-east corner of the college playing fields) in 2007. These were probably contemporary with the fills (5/9) of feature 4/8, and had probably been dumped in order to make up the ground in the former eastern field, possibly when the recreation ground was laid out in the early 1930s.

Accession number: 2009/53

Southampton City Council Archaeology Unit, 2009, Archaeological Evaluation Excavation at the Site of the Proposed 'Gaols' Building at Portsmouth College, Tangier Road, Portsmouth (Unpublished document). SPM123.