Monument MPM1743 - Remains of Pitch House, Pitch House Jetty

The remains of a c. 19th century pitch house revealed on pitch house jetty in Portsmouth Dockyard, consisting of stone and brick walls. A rectangular tank and tar residue were also present.

The remains of a pitch house were revealed on Pitch House Jetty during a watching brief in Portsmouth Dockyard in 1999. The building had been constructed from walls made of stone blocks which had been built above an earlier stone culvert/tunnel (see MPM1742). The walls had survived to 3 courses high, and had been constructed mainly using Portland stone, but a variety of stones including Purbeck and a dark grey Granite like stone had also been used. The stone walls were topped by a wide brick wall.

A rectangular tank lined with a yellow sandy mortar was observed in the northern part of the structure, and in the corners of the building was a thick black residue of tar. The style of the brickwork and the presence of a structure marked within the area on a plan dated c1850, would suggest the pitch house was 19th century in date.

Pitch (mixture of tar and coarse resin) was used by the navy to waterproof ships and would have been produced in large quantities in the dockyard. As fire was needed in the production of pitch, it would have been made in a non-flammable building.

Sharma, B, 1999, The Jetties, HMNB, Portsmouth, Interim Report on the Archaeological Watching Brief (Unpublished document). SPM384.

Barge, M, 2000, Phase 1B, The Jetties, HMNB, Portsmouth Report on the Archaeological Watching Brief (Unpublished document). SPM383.