T H A M E S V A L L E Y ARCHAEOLOGICAL S E R V I C E S Former Woolston School, Porchester Road, Southampton, Hampshire Archaeological Evaluation by David Sanchez Site Code: WSS17/53 (SOU1748) (SU 4458 1098) Former Woolston School, Porchester Road, Southampton, Hampshire An Archaeological Evaluation for Hampshire Homes Group by David Sanchez Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd Site Code WSS 17/53 (SOU 1748) August 2017 Summary Site name: Former Woolston School, Porchester Road, Southampton, Hampshire Grid reference: SU 4458 1098 Site activity: Archaeological Evaluation Date and duration of project: 30th June - 11th July 2017 Project manager: Steve Ford Site supervisor: David Sanchez Site code: WSS 17/53 (SOU 1748) Summary of results: Ten trenches were dug on the site of the former Woolston School showing that the potential archaeological level had been truncated by previous developments of the site for most of its extent. In less disturbed areas. no deposits of archaeological interest were uncovered and no artefacts were recovered. The site is therefore considered to have low archaeological potential. Location and reference of archive: The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at Southampton City Museum in due course. This report may be copied for bona fide research or planning purposes without the explicit permission of the copyright holder. All TVAS unpublished fieldwork reports are available on our website: www.tvas.co.uk/reports/reports.asp. Report edited/checked by: Steve Ford 09.08.17 Steve Preston 09.08.17 i Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd, 47–49 De Beauvoir Road, Reading RG1 5NR Tel. (0118) 926 0552; Fax (0118) 926 0553; email [email protected]; website: www.tvas.co.uk Former Woolston School, Porchester Road, Southampton, Hampshire An Archaeological Evaluation by David Sanchez Report 17/53b Introduction This report documents the results of an archaeological field evaluation carried out at the former Woolston School, Porchester Road, Southampton, Hampshire (SU 4458 1098) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Mr Russell Kent of Hampshire Homes Group, 8 Chatmohr Estate, Crawley Hill, Romsey, Hampshire, SO51 6AP. Planning permission (16/01605/FUL) has been granted by Southampton City Council for the demolition of the existing school to be replaced with residential buildings and associated car parking and open space. The consent is subject to conditions (29 to 33) relating to archaeology. This is in accordance with the Department for Communities and Local Government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF 2012), and the City’s policies on archaeology. As a requirement of the planning consent, and as consequence of the possibility of archaeological deposits on the site which may be damaged or destroyed by groundworks a field evaluation was required, based on the results of which, further mitigation might be required. The field investigation was carried out to a specification approved by Ms Ingrid Peckham, Historic Environment Record Officer of Southampton City Council. The fieldwork was undertaken by David Sanchez, Danielle Milbank and Benedikt Tebbit in two phases between 30th June and 11th July 2017 and the site code is SOU 1748. The TVAS project code is WSS 17/53. The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at Southampton City Museum in due course. Location, topography and geology The site is located at the junction of Station Road with Porchester Road and Portsmouth Road (A3025) in the Woolston area of Southampton (Fig. 1). It is bounded by the three roads with houses fronting onto Portsmouth and Porchester Roads forming the western boundary (Fig. 2). To the north of Porchester Road is located the railway line with Sholing Station located immediately to the east of the site. The local topography of the area of the site is fairly flat lying at approximately 26m above Ordnance Datum and the underlying geology has been mapped as Plateau Gravel (BGS 1973). More recent editions (BGS online map viewer) suggest the bedrock 1 geology is Earnley Sand Formation - Sand, Silt and Clay with overlying superficial deposits of River Terrace (sand and gravel). The geology observed on site during the evaluation consisted of clay and gravel deposits. Archaeological background A previous watching brief on an extension to the school along Station Road (SOU 1097) revealed pits, ditches and post holes, mainly of Medieval date and residual finds consisting of a prehistoric flint tool and two sherds of Roman pottery. A dark soil layer covered the site. At the western end of the site was found the remains of a probable WWII air raid shelter (Smith 2001). Building recording undertaken at a previous stage of the current archaeological investigation (Elliott 2017) showed that much of the original building, dating from around 1920, was intact. However plans from the 1940s show a number of repairs and alterations to the school, possibly a result of bomb damage. Minor changes were shown in the plans from the 1960s and further minor changes have occurred in the intervening years. More generally, the site lies within a landscape of a number of prehistoric, Bronze Age, Roman, Saxon and medieval finds, with more extensive post-medieval monuments recorded in the city council’s historic environment record (HER), as summarized below. Natural Natural features consisting of a former stream and possibly other old watercourses or periglacial disturbances have been found to the east and north of the site at 51a Victoria Road (SOU 1279, MSH 2435) and 269a Spring Road (MSH 2751, SOU 1243). Natural deposits including peat and a possible early riverbed or beach were identified in boreholes for the Itchen Bridge (MSH 1442). Prehistoric A number of prehistoric finds, mainly consisting of flint have been found within the vicinity of the site: a Palaeolithic flint flake near Woolston Station (MSH 284); a Neolithic polished flint axe (MSH 386) and a Palaeolithic handaxe (MSH 387) near Sholing Station; a lower Palaeolithic handaxe from Butts Road (MSH 423); and two Palaeolithic handaxes from Spring Road (MSH 507, MSH 508). A further eight Palaeolithic handaxes, three flint flakes (MSH 531) and three Mesolithic flint blades and a core (MSH 532) are only provenanced to the Woolston area in general. Along Weston Shore a soil layer containing burnt and worked flints as well as a sherd of Bronze Age pottery has been interpreted as a prehistoric land surface (SOU 834, SOU 1371, MSH 1006). Bronze Age Only a few entries of Bronze Age date are present on the HER, these consist of a rapier found during dredging at 2 Shamrock Quay (MSH 288) and to the north-west of the site, on Poole Road, a hoard of 41 bronze palstaves was found in 1898 (MSH 388). Roman Roman finds are generally residual within the more immediate vicinity of the proposal site such as that found at Tickleford Drive to the south-east, suggesting a possible Roman settlement (SOU 471, MSH 1864), a coin of Antonius Pius (MSH 3600) to the south-west and tile fragments at 350 Portsmouth Road (MSH 407) to the east. The route of the Roman road between Clausentum (Bitterne Manor) and Noviomagus (Chichester) (MSH 550) is located to the north of the site. Saxon Saxon archaeology is mainly lacking but there is documentary evidence. Woolston is mentioned in Domesday Book as Olvestune (MSH 2958) and the village of Weston is mentioned in an Anglo-Saxon charter, however it is not specifically mentioned in Domesday Book (MSH 1647). Sea Road, to the west of the site appears to mark the boundary of the pre-Conquest estate at South Stoneham, however no ditches were found to the south of the road during an evaluation (SOU 1416, MSH 5609). A small pit containing 10th-11th century pottery was found to the east of the site at 350 Portsmouth Road (MSH 407). Medieval The former village of Itchen or the Itchen ferry may have been mentioned in a document dated to 1372 and the ferry crossing is mentioned in a grant dated 1441. The village is shown on a map dating to c.1560 (MSH 2958). Weston aqueduct may have supplied water to Netley Abbey (MSH 3427). Netley Abbey is a late medieval Cistercian monastery founded in 1239. The aqueduct and catchment area are Scheduled. Post Medieval The majority of the entries within the HER for the environs of the site relate to the post medieval period, mainly relating to buildings, however a number also relate to below ground remains. Within Mayfield Park, to the south of the site, Weston Mill was built around 1762 and subsequently replaced by Oldmill House in the 19th century (SOU 645, MSH 1846). Also within Mayfield Park, was the former carriageway/approach road to Weston Grove House, built in 1801 (SOU 547, SOU 645, SOU 795, MSH 1850), a George III silver sixpence was found near the carriageway (MSH 406). In the Weston area are recorded the remains of a possible cart track and/or breakwaters at Weston Shore dating to the mid 19th century (SOU 834, SOU 1371, MSH 1005). A gravel pit visible on early Ordnance Survey maps is located at Weston Point (MSH 5190) as well as remains of a stone sea wall containing medieval masonry and floor tiles; maps suggest the associated road was built in the 1840s (SOU 1371, MSH 4953). At the former Sun Inn a thick soil layer, a posthole and linear feature area all likely to date to the post-medieval or early 3 modern period (SOU 1438, MSH 2894). To the west of the site are possible estuarine/beach deposits as well as reclamation deposits observed in Wharf Road (SOU 647.