Portsmouth Technology Park, Portsmouth, Hampshire: An Archaeological Watching Brief Report

Following the demolition of the buildings previously occupying the site a programme of archaeological monitoring was conducted on general ground reduction for the development and associated groundworks. The watching brief areas included the main building footprint, haul road, crane base and attenuation tank. Natural chalk of the Spetisbury Chalk Memberwas observed across the site at between c 102m OD at the north and c 112m OD at the south of the site.This steep gradient in levels of natural geology reflects the natural topography of Portsdown Hill upon which the site is located. The natural chalk was invariably overlain with historic made ground of varying depths, and in the case of the attenuation tank outside the building footprint topsoil. No archaeological features or horizons were present on the site. This is almost certainly as a result of the extensive landscaping activity known to have taken place, associated with the construction of the buildings previously occupying the site, documented during the 1950's, and included cutting an escarpment into the side of Portsdown Hill, in which the current development is situated.