Brunswick House, Brunswick Place, Southampton (SOU1667). Archaeological Watching Brief
Southampton City Council Archaeology Unit, 2018. https://doi.org/10.5284/1046744. How to cite using this DOI
Data copyright © Southampton City Council unless otherwise stated
This work is licensed under the ADS Terms of Use and Access.
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Southampton City Council Archaeology Unit
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Southampton
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Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 2977
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1046744
- How to cite using this DOI
Introduction
The Archaeology Unit of Southampton City Council carried out a watching brief on boreholes and test pits to the rear of Brunswick House. Planning permission has been granted for the refurbishment and extension of the building under reference 13/00348/FUL/2853. The watching brief was commissioned by CGMS Consulting.
The natural deposits were brickearth over River Terrace gravel. These were only observed in the boreholes.
The three trial pits were all dug close to the rear of the standing building with a view to examining the foundations. All three pits encountered a deep modern feature filled with coarse gravel, probably part of the construction of Brunswick House. The test pits did not reach the base of the feature or the base of the gravel fill.
The boreholes passed through 1m of gravel and 19th century brick fragments, before reaching the brickearth, which lay above natural gravel.
The watching brief showed that Brunswick House itself sits within a large foundation trench backfilled with coarse gravel. The feature is deep enough to have removed most archaeological features, and only pits deeper than 2.5mm or wells are likely to have survived. Further north from Brunswick House, to the rear of the building, the ground level has been built up to about 1m above the top of the natural brickearth. The build-up in the observed locations was all of recent date, suggesting the area was stripped to the surface of the natural during the construction of Brunswick House. Archaeology could survive in this area.
