Find Spot MPM1388 - Prehistoric-Modern finds, Portsmouth Grammar School

Finds recovered during a watching brief at Portsmouth Grammar School in 2013, comprising prehistoric flint, butchered sheep and cattle bones, 19th century pottery, clay pipe and glass, oyster shells and a 1930s dinky toy car. The majority of the finds came from disturbed contexts, and a number of these related to kitchen/mess room waste from Cambridge Barracks.

A number of finds were recovered during a watching brief on ground works for a new building at Portsmouth Grammar School in 2013. All of the finds, with the exception of the oyster shells, were residual and came from disturbed contexts.

The earliest finds were Neolithic/Bronze Age flint flakes recovered from a disturbed context associated with 20th century debris. The find of most recent date, a dinky toy (George Eyston’s 1930s Art Deco style icon Thunderbolt car) was recovered from the same context.

A number of finds were thought to be associated with kitchen/mess room waste. These comprised sheep and castle bones with evidence of butchery, the base of a mid-19th century wine bottle and clay pipe bowls and stems of the same date, and the rim from a mid-late 19th century salt glazed bowl/cooking pot. A small spread of Oyster shells were recovered from a relatively undisturbed context within the kitchen/mess area. These were thought to date to the 19th century.

A late 19th century graduated spoonful dose medicine bottle with cork stopper retained internally, was also recovered from the site.

Accession number: 2013/745

Hall, N & Pine, C, A, 2014, Summary Report on the Results of a Watching Brief undertaken at Portsmouth Grammar School High Street Portsmouth (Unpublished document). SPM254.