Monument MPM1173 - Remains of Croxton Town, Stone Street

The remains of brick foundations, cellars and outbuildings belonging to terraced housing in Diamond Street, which originally formed part of 'Croxton Town' built c. 1809. The houses were partially destroyed during the Second World War and were subsequently demolished in the 1950s and 1960s.

The remains of brick foundations, cellars and outbuildings belonging to terraced houses in Diamond Street, were revealed during an archaeological evaluation at the site in 2009. The buildings originally formed part of 'Croxton Town', the earliest part of Southsea, built c. 1809 onwards, and named after its developer Thomas Croxton. The houses were partially destroyed during the Second World War and were subsequently demolished in the 1950s and 1960s. St. Michael's Lodge was built on the site between 1955-1960, and was demolished shortly before September 2009 when development work for a new building on the site commenced.

The remains of four houses which fronted onto the north and south sides of Diamond Street were revealed. Three of these houses had half-cellars, to a depth of 1m, which had been used to store coal. Coal dust had survived in places, and brick built coal-holes extended into the road in front. The depth of the terraces was c. 6m, not including any out-shots.

The principle external walls of the terraced houses were constructed from a double skin of bricks laid parallel to the terrace with a 1m cavity. The internal and boundary walls and the out-buildings had a single brick width, with a single course of bricks at right angles. The bricks measured 23cm x 11cm x 6.5cm and were set in a white mortar. A yellow mortar had been used for later alterations.

The excavations in the back-plots of the terraces indicated that the houses fronting onto Diamond Street were c. 6m deep, with an overall plot depth of 12m. The historic maps suggest the plots fronting onto Gold and Silver Street were larger, being approximately 16m. Each plot was separated by a single width brick wall. A number of square foundations with soil pipes exiting from them were revealed in the back-plots of these terraces. These belonged to outdoor privies. The historic maps show there were a variety of out-buildings in the back-plots. The foundations of at least two rear extensions to the houses were excavated. At least one of these, belonging to a house fronting onto Diamond Street from the south, was a later alteration. The rear of the house originally had a set of external steps which entered the basement, which had been blocked at a later date by bricks set in a different mortar.

A number of service trenches were revealed beneath Diamond Street, which contained a probable water main, two gas pipes and an electricity cable. A total of 2 water spurs, 4 gas spurs and 1 electricity cable were recorded. Some of the houses were not connected to any of these, while two houses had both water and gas, one of these possibly having electricity as well.

The road surface of Diamond Street was made up of several layers. The earliest was a thin skim of tarmac, which either suggested that the road was un-surfaced for much of the 19th century, or an earlier surface had been replaced. Above the tarmac was a layer of gravel and sand, thought to be the pre-war road surface. A second layer of tarmac above this layer was probably associated with St. Michael's Lodge.

Evidence of Second World War destruction on the site was represented by a layer of black soil which overlaid the back-plots and probably related to the burning of the buildings. The layer was overlain by rubble, which had also been used to infill the cellars.

The remains of the internal, and the southern exterior walls of St. Michael's Lodge were also found during the evaluation.

As the pre-war buildings were setback from the road frontages, it is thought likely that the remains of further buildings from Croxton Town still lie beneath the ground surface.

Accession number: 2009/104

West Sussex Archaeology, 2009, Report on a Programme of Archaeological Works At the former St Michael's Lodge, Stone Street, Southsea, Hampshire (Unpublished document). SPM149.