Monument MPM1799 - Site of Lower Milton Farm

Site of Lower Milton Farm. Milton had been a manor since the end of the 14th century, and there would have been manor houses and farms associated with it since this period. A cluster of buildings in the area of Lower Milton Farm, including a large L-shaped building/farmhouse, are first shown on Holley's map of 1750. These buildings are marked on later maps as Milton Farm and Milton House (the house was approx. 50m east of the farmhouse and farm buildings). [1] The large L-shaped farm building/farmhouse is still visible on maps up until 1874 [1], but had gone by 1898 when the farm is no longer marked [2]. The shape of the house suggests that it may have been 17th century in date [1].

The farm is mentioned as being part of Milton manor in a document of 1691. The manor and the farm were owned by the White family between 1722 and 1831, when it became known as Lower Milton Farm or White's Farm. In 1831 it passed to the Durham family. [1] The Portsea Tithe map and apportionment record a homestead, pond and meadow owned by Sir P. H. Durham and occupied by James Ellis Senior [3]. In 1846 the farmhouse was bought by James Stevens, who later handed it to his son, William Augustus Stevens, in the 1860s. James Goldsmith purchased the farm and Milton House in 1885 [4]. The land was sold to Portsmouth Corporation in 1911 [5]. Foster Hall, an accommodation block for Portsmouth Municipal Training College, was built on the farm site in 1916 and a new teaching building was constructed in the north-east of the site, near the former Milton House, in 1939 [6]. These buildings later became the Milton Campus of the University of Portsmouth [5]. The site was redeveloped for housing in 2004. A watching brief carried out during development work observed a number of 18th/early-19th century bricks in the make up under the foundations of one of the training college buildings. It was concluded that it is likely evidence of the farm buildings and house were destroyed by construction of the twentieth century buildings on the site. [5]

<1> Young, J & Hunt, G, 2003, Deskbased Assessment on Land at Milton Campus, Portsmouth, Hampshire (Unpublished document). SPM32.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1898, Ordnance Survey Map 1898 (Map). SPM265.

<3> Owen, Thomas Ellis, 1838, Portsea Tithe Map and Apportionment (Map). SPM235.

<4> Shuttleworth, Suzanne, 1993, Farms and Market Gardens on Portsea Island 1770-1880 (Bibliographic reference). SPM403.

<5> L - P Archaeology, 2004, Archaeological Watching Brief report at Milton Campus, portsmouth (Unpublished document). SPM33.

<6> Portsmouth University Archives, 2016, Portsmouth College of Education (1907-1976) (Unpublished document). SPM523.