Monument MPM1110 - 61 High Street, Old Portsmouth

A limestone flagged floor, which may have been the original cellar floor to 61 High Street, was observed during a watching brief in the basement of the property in 2008. Other features observed included a brick floor, two pits (possibly soakaways) and a post-medieval brick and tile feature which may have been a sump.

A limestone flagged floor, which may have been the original cellar floor, was observed during a watching brief in the basement of 61 High Street in 2008. Below this feature were two pits filled with limestone blocks, mortar and fragments of post-medieval brick, which were very wet and possibly soakaways. Above the limestone floor was a layer of mortar bonded roof tiles, and above this layer was a brick floor. A brick and tile rectangular feature dating to the post-medieval period, possibly a sump, was observed in the northwest corner of the cellar.

The limestone floor (3) was constructed from large limestone slabs, irregularly laid, and was observed 140mm below the modern cellar floor. The slabs were mostly 0.1m thick, and ranged from 0.1m to 0.5m in length. As this feature was directly above the natural soil, it may have been the original cellar floor.

Above the limestone floor were two layers of roof tiles and mortar (2), a total of 65mm thick. The tiles were post-medieval in date and measured 262mm long, 174mm wide and 11mm thick, and some had peg holes. Above this layer (2) was a brick floor (1). The bricks measured 227mm long, 108mm wide and 69mm thick.

A rectangular brick feature in the northwest corner of the cellar was situated within a construction trench (feature 5). The trench measured 1.22m long by 1.01m wide, was not bottomed but was at least 0.3m deep. A recantugular limestone slab (9), 690mm long by 430mm wide, formed the base of the feature. The bottom of the slab was not observed, but it was bonded to the bricks and tiles of the feature. Above the slab was a rectangular box of post-medieval brickwork (6). The bricks measured 232mm long by 106mm wide by 69mm deep and did not have frogs. Two layers of tiles were laid on the inside of the bricks, and may have been a lining. The tiles were also post-medieval and measured 10mm thick. Tiles had also been used between the two courses of bricks.

Two pits were observed in the natural. Pit 11 was located in the northeast part of the cellar. It was rounded in form, measuring 2.1m long by 1.6m wide, and was not bottomed. It's fill contained several limestone blocks ranging between 0.1m to 0.5m long, fragments of slate, mortar, and a fragment of brick made from local brickearth of a late-medieval to post-medieval date. A very wet brown clay loam was present around the rubble (12). Pit 14 was located in the southern section of the cellar. It was also rounded, measuring 0.6m long by 0.5m wide, and was not bottomed. It's filled consisted of a wet yellowish brown, sandy clay, which contained several small limestone fragments. It is possible these pits were soakaways, or alternatively they may have been earlier pits whose loose fill had been removed and replaced with a firmed rubble and clay.



Accession Number: 2007/227

Smith, M P & McDonald, E L, 2008, Archaeological Watching Brief at 61 St Thomas's Street, Portsmouth (Unpublished document). SPM125.