214 Bassett Green Road, Southampton - Archaeological Watching Brief Report

Wessex Archaeology

Wessex Archaeology was commissioned to carry out an archaeological watching brief at 214 Bassett Green Road, Southampton centred on NGR 442030 117005.

A series of natural clay and gravel layers were observed within the trenches, directly overlain by a layer of made ground with a high percentage of 20th century building debris as inclusions. This debris was resultant from the demolition of the previous building that occupied the Site.

This lack of archaeological features and deposits may be due to previous development undertaken at the Site, part of which was demolished as part of the current development. Evidence for the truncation caused by the previous building was observed on Site in form of numerous drainage and service runs that were cut into the natural geology.

The lack of archaeological features and deposits would also appear to concur with the archaeological and historical background to the site which indicated a low potential for the presence of archaeological remains or activity within the vicinity of the site pre-dating the 19th century. Even here no evidence for 19th century activity or later beyond the identified service runs could be identified. However, due to this later construction and truncation of the original ground surface, it is unclear if there were any archaeological features or deposits present before this work. It is therefore possible that further work in the immediate area could reveal surviving archaeology.