Monument MPM1964 - Timber Stakes, Coastal Defences, Ports Creek

Line of timber stakes observed during a watching brief for the Anchorage Park coastal defence scheme in 2015. The timbers were thought to have probably formed part of a timber revetment to prevent the erosion of the earthen embankments. It has been suggested that the timbers dated to the late post-medieval period or 20th century.

A line of timber stakes on the south side of Ports Creek observed during a watching brief for the Anchorage Park coastal defence scheme in 2015. The stakes were revealed at c1.50m OD at the bottom of an earthen bank which formed part of the existing coastal defences. They faced the intertidal zone and probably formed part of a timber revetment to prevent the erosion of the earthen embankments. The stakes ran parallel to the coastal defences along the whole of the area that was monitored, except near an east-west retaining wall located to the east of the railway bridge (MPM1965).

Post-excavation analysis of one of the timber stakes suggested a date range from the late post-medieval to the 20th century, although it was also suggested in the report that it may be earlier in date. The stakes may have formed part of an earlier 'low basal timber revetment' that was incorporated into the existing defences as part of redevelopment and consolidation in the 1970s.

Further timber stakes were observed in Ports Creek and on the western side of Langstone Harbour during the watching brief (see MPM1966 & MPM).

Banikov, Martin & Smith, Michael, 2016, Anchorage Park Coastal Defence Scheme, Hilsea, Portsmouth: Watching Brief (Unpublished document). SPM568.