Monument MPM1480 - Remains of former Victoria and Clarence Barracks complex, City Museum and Record Office site

Series of walls and features associated with a former complex of buildings belonging to Victoria and Clarence barracks, revealed during an archaeological evaluation at the Portsmouth City Museum and Record Office site in 2001.

A series of walls and features revealed during an archaeological evaluation at the Portsmouth City Museum and Record Office site in 2001. These features were associated with a former complex of buildings which belonged to the Victoria and Clarence barracks. They were all found in Trench 1.

A brick wall (11) bonded with lime mortar ran on a roughly north-south alignment c. 3m to the west of a brick floor found in the same trench (see MPM1479). These features were not related to one another. The wall had a concrete foundation, suggesting that it was fairly modern in date. It had possibly been pushed over on its western side, where there was an area of rubble.

Approximately 3m to the west of wall 11 was a brick footing (10) which consisted of a layer of mortar-bonded bricks, which continued under the northern wall of the trench. Another layer of bricks was positioned in the centre and on top of the footing, which looked similar to a column base in appearance. The remains of a piece of slate with 'E2' engraved upon it, was positioned at the south west corner of the footing, although it was not joined to this feature.

Two meters to the west of wall 11 were two wall-like features. One of these (26) appeared to be a collapsed wall, or another feature that had been demolished. The second was a wall (24) which ran north-south across the trench alongside, but not connected to, feature 26. The wall was constructed using English bond and was two bricks thick. It was completely different to the other walls found on the site. A possible foundation layer made up of a grey/brown loose sandy gravel with a few fragments of brick lay underneath.

Between wall 24 and wall 22 were the remains of what were probably two old water or sewage pipes. The pipes were made from iron and ran diagonally across the trench.

Six meters to the west of wall 24 was another wall (22), which had been formed from two walls of red/brown bricks to make a right angle. The wall had been constructed on top of a layer of concrete at least 0.05m deep, probably a foundation raft. This suggested a fairly modern date. Wall plaster was visible on the inner face of the wall, and there was a large scatter of brick pieces around it.

Plans of Victoria Barracks suggest that the sequence of walls and features appear to relate to an arched walkway with storage rooms underneath (which joined two sections of the main barrack block running north-south on its eastern end) and separate building on the north side of the barrack block. The latter contained a number of things, including urinals and a water meter house. It is probable that many of the walls and sections of floor revealed in the evaluation trench are the remains of these structures.

Accession No: 2001/1344

Stevens, Jenny, 2001, Desk Based Assessment and Archaeological Evaluation Portsmouth City Museum and Record Office, Museum Road, Portsmouth (Unpublished document). SPM270.