Monument MPM34 - East Ravelin

The East Ravelin formed part of the line of defences designed to protect the town of Portsmouth (now known as Old Portsmouth). It replaced a late-17th century defensive structure (redan) designed by Bernard de Gomme that stood on the site. The defences were demolished during the 1860s/70s. The remains of part of the Ravelin were revealed during an archaeological evaluation in 1972. A series of walls thought to belong to the East Ravelin were recorded during an archaeological watching brief in 2004. Further remains of the ravelin and moat were revealed during archaeological investigations and monitoring 2018-2019 (see MPM2033).

Excavations carried out in Ravelin Park in 1972 revealed extensive remains of the town defences. The remains of the rampart wall, counterscarp wall, moat and salient apex of the East Ravelin were revealed during the evaluation. The excavations also revealed that the construction of the East Ravelin had cut into a gun platform belonging to Bernard de Gomme's 17th century defences.

See records MPM1879-1882 for full details.

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A series of walls, thought to be the remains of the East Ravelin, were uncovered during a watching brief on the site of the Old Students Union in 2004 (now a car park). The trench containing the walls ran north-south in the eastern half of the site. It was suggested that a large limestone rubble wall revealed on a NW-SE alignment at the southern end of the trench may have been part of the back wall of the Ravelin. If this is the case, earlier projections of where the defences were positioned would need to be moved approximately 15-20m north to accomodate this, as the wall was previously thought to have been under Museum Road. At the northern end of the trench was a limestone wall on a roughly east-west alignment, possibly the remains of the northern outer wall to the Ravelin, although only its south edge survived. Between the back and outer walls, were three further stone walls. These may have been internal walls within the Ravelin itself, or may relate to the pre-1860 phases of the site.

Two cuts with steep north sides, containing dirty gravel and lined with clay, were also observed in the same trench. Their exact function could not be determined. It was suggested they may be ditch cuts, although this was thought unlikely due to their position in relation to the walls. Further suggestions were that they may relate to earlier phases of the site, or were robbing cuts from the later 19th century demolition.

A linear feature which crossed a trench at right-angles on the far east end of the site may have been an 18th century ditch. This contained occasional small brick fragments and a clay pipe bowl dating to 1680-1740.

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The northern and inner walls of the East Ravelin together with part of the moat were observed during archaeological investigations in 2018-2019. See record MPM2033 for details. [3]

<1> Fox, Russ, 1988, East Ravelin, SZ69NW33 (Excavation archive). SPM12.

<2> Currie, C K, 2004, An Archaeological Watching Brief at the Old Student Union Site, Ravelin Park, Museum Road, Portsmouth, Hants (Unpublished document). SPM116.

<3> Anthony, Sian and Capon, Les, 2019, University of Portsmouth Sports Building, Ravelin Park, Portsmouth, Hampshire: Post-Excavation Assessment Report (Unpublished document). SPM593.