Monument MPM1222 - 17th Century Burials, Portsmouth Power Station

The remains of 19 burials dating to the early 17th Century, revealed during rescue excavations at the site of the former Portsmouth Power Station in 1984.

The remains of 19 burials were revealed during rescue excavations at the site of the former Portsmouth Power Station in 1984. The graves were orientated east-west and contained only a trace of the burials, the remains consisting of a few skull fragments, fragile traces of leg bones and iron nails from wooden coffins. The fact that buildings belonging to the late-17th Century Colewort Barracks had been built on top of the graves/cut through them, suggested that they dated to the early-17th Century. The burials appeared to have taken place within a short space of time, and the graves would only have been approximately 50cms below the ground surface at the time they were dug. It has been suggested they may relate to an epidemic of plague in Portsmouth in 1625. [1]

At the time of excavation it was thought that more burials must exist within areas of the site which could not be excavated due to time constraints. [1]

Evidence of 17th-18th century occupation (MPM1223), four sherds of medieval coarseware pottery (MPM2143) and the remains of the former Colewort Barracks (MPM380) were also encountered on the site.

The excavation archive is held by Portsmouth Museum Service under the Accession number 1984/105.

Fox, Russ, 1984, Post-Medieval occupation (Power Station) (Excavation archive). SPM18.

Portsmouth City Council, n/a, Portsmouth City SMR Cards (Index). SPM1.

<1> Hampshire County Council, 1986, Archaeology in Hampshire Annual Report for 1984-1985 (Bibliographic reference). SPM194.