Monument MPM1120 - Timber Structure, Lock Lake

Structure consisting of 196 timbers in three separate groupings. One group acted as guide posts for the Portsmouth and Arundel Canal. The other two may be remnants of jetties.

Structure consisting of a total of 196 timbers, in three separate groupings. The ground level heights for the timbers range from 0.098m OD to 1.949m OD.

The southermost group of timbers acted as guide posts for the entry to the sea lock at Milton of the Portsmouth and Arundel Canal. The posts are quite substantial, some reaching over 8ft high. They are probably the original timbers erected when the canal opened in 1822.

The middle group of posts are arranged in the form of two parallel lines with two areas projecting south in the middle of the run. It has been suggested that these may be the remnants of a landing jetty. The age of the structure is unknown, but it may possibly be associated with the Prison Hulks moored in Langstone Harbour during the early 19th century.

The group of timbers to the north is situated alongside the sea wall. It is possible that this is the landward end of another jetty which extends eastwards.

Langstone Survey Project Number: PI.104 [1]

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A survey carried out on the southernmost group of timber piles at the entrance to the lock by the Hampshire & Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology in 2003 concluded that the piles had formed part of a wooden entrance way. The surviving evidence suggested they were foundations for a wooden 'funnel' used to guide vessels into the lock.

There are two groups of piles in this area, one on the north and one on the south side of the entrance. The survey concentrated on the piles on the south side. The piles were recorded as relatively substantial round wood elements that had been 'trimmed' to form square or sub-square uprights. A horizontal 'plank' element was seen to run along the southern edge of the main line of piles. This suggested that the uprights had been clad with planks. At the time of the survey the piles survived to a height of between 0.50m and 1.3m. They were to be reduced to approximately 0.20m above the foreshore following the survey as they were considered a hazard to navigation. The group of timbers on the north side of the entrance had already been reduced to approximately 0.10m prior to the survey being conducted.


[2]

<1> Allen, M J & Gardiner, J et al, 2000, Our Changing Coast 'A Survey of the Intertidal Archaeology of Langstone Harbour, Hampshire' (Bibliographic reference). SPM81.

<2> Hampshire & Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology, 2003, Milton Lock Entrance Posts, Langstone Harbour: Inspection & Photographic survey (Unpublished document). SPM554.