Monument MPM1458 - 19th-20th century Brick platform, East Street

Brick platform abutted by a single course brick surface, recorded during a watching brief in 2012. The structures are thought to be associated with mid-late 19th/early 20th century harbour/quay side activity.

Brick platform and surface believed to be associated with mid-late 19th-20th century harbour and quay side activity were recorded during a watching brief by Archaeology South-East in East Street, Old Portsmouth, in 2012.

The southern extent of a mid-late 19th-20th century brick platform 2.50m wide - possibly with slight truncation to the east - ran northwards under Camber Quay. It pre-dated the modern surface of the quay, and extended approximately 1.0m south of its present limit. The main body of the structure had been in-filled with compacted lightly cemented hogging, and it was bounded by shallow brick footings or stanchions to the west and south. Its surface was made up of two brick courses, with possible repairs having been made to the upper course. Bricks of a slightly earlier date may have been re-used in the structure.

The platform was abutted by a poorly constructed shallow single course brick surface at its southern limit. This had been constructed using frogged brick bonded with hard concrete/mortar built directly onto a loose rubbly dump or make-up deposit. This structure had a poor load-bearing capacity and suffered from subsidence. The brick surface sealed a layer of sandy-silt with brick rubble and mortar inclusions [15]. A number of finds were recovered from the layer, including, sherds of late 19th-20th century pottery, clay pipe, an iron bolt, fragments of brick, and a reused late-18th/19th century peg tile. These finds, together with the type of bricks used in its construction, dated the surface to the mid-late 19th-20th century. The surface had been sealed by a thick reinforced concrete platform sopporting a cobbled surface, presumed to be contemporary to existing moden cobbles in the vacinity (see MPM1459).

It was thought that the brick structures may have been connected with industrial coal storage structures which had been identified within the area. However, an environmental sample taken from the layer [15] sealed by the brick surface failed to confirm this. The sample only produced one coal granule and a low density of small charcoal fragments, and there were no other deposits clearly associated with the structure from which a sample could be taken.

Stephenson, Philippa, 2013, Archaeological Watching Brief Report East Street, Spice Island, Portsmouth, Hampshire (Unpublished document). SPM261.