Peel Street, Northam, Southampton (SOU1691). Archaeological Watching Brief (OASIS ID: wessexar1-268667)
Wessex Archaeology, 2018. https://doi.org/10.5284/1046759. How to cite using this DOI
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- ADS Collection: 2982
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1046759
- How to cite using this DOI
Introduction
Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Polystar Plastics Ltd to undertake an archaeological watching brief during the initial groundworks associated with the proposed redevelopment of land off Peel Street, Northam, Southampton, centred on National Grid Reference (NGR) 443050 112300.
The fieldwork was undertaken between Friday 10th and Tuesday 14th July, and Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th October 2015.
The watching brief comprised the monitoring of 100 drilled pile holes across the central northern part of the Site and a further 25 drilled pile holes to the east. A broadly common stratigraphic sequence was recorded by visual examination of the displaced material arising from the pile holes, which were 10−16m deep; no accurate measuring of depths and thicknesses of deposits was possible. The natural comprised river terrace gravel. In most of the pile holes a layer of alluvial material comprising brownish grey silty clay directly overlay the river terrace gravel, but in seven pile holes in the central northern and eastern areas bands of peat were present within or beneath the alluvium. The deposits in the pile holes to the south-east were noticeably wetter, probably reflecting a subterranean flow of water following the course of a former stream.
The probable alluvial deposits and peat are likely to reflect the former presence of Northam Marsh, evidence for which has been recorded in a number of previous investigations in the vicinity. Northam Marsh may have bounded the north-eastern edge of Mid-Saxon Hamwic, and elements survived until the late 19th century, accurately depicted on maps of 1846 and 1870, before the area was finally reclaimed and built over.
