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Summary

In 1980/1981, a large excavation took place on the west side of Maddison Street, in the area of the bailey of Southampton Castle and just south of the castle bailey wall (SOU 29), followed by a watching brief during redevelopment in 1984 (also SOU 29). 11th century occupation pre-dating the castle was overlain by a site layer dating to the mid-late 12th century. This was cut by features associated with the castle and dating to the late 12th to late 13th century. Near the south end of the site were a ditch and robbed-out wall, either the first defensive features on the north side of the castle or an internal division of the bailey. Roughly contemporary features include four rubbish pits. At the north end of the site the rampart/castle bailey bank was found and dated to the 12th/13th century. The castle bailey wall, to the north of the site area, was later inserted into this rampart, perhaps in the late 13th/early 14th century, when a series of limekilns and a possible pitch-making hearth were dug. Seven human skeletons were found, six of them in the backfills of two limekilns and the seventh in an upper ditch fill. There were large, mid-late 14th century rubbish pits. There was a 15th century site layer and 16th century linear features and pits. The 15th and 16th century evidence suggests the area was used as a rubbish dump. In the late 19th century terraced houses were built on the site.

Protected Status: None recorded

Other References/Statuses

• HER backup file (new series): SOU 29  etc
• Old Southampton SMR No/Backup file: SU 4111 SE 3 (M)  also SU 4111 NE 11

Monument Type(s):

• RAMPART (Medieval - 1100 AD to 1299 AD)
• DITCH (Medieval - 1150 AD to 1299 AD)
• PIT (Medieval - 1150 AD to 1299 AD)
• POST HOLE (Medieval - 1150 AD to 1299 AD)
• ROBBER TRENCH (Medieval - 1150 AD to 1299 AD)
• SITE LAYER (Medieval - 1150 AD to 1199 AD)
• WALL (Medieval - 1150 AD to 1299 AD)
• HUMAN REMAINS (Medieval - 1250 AD to 1350 AD)
• INHUMATION (Medieval - 1250 AD to 1350 AD)
• LIME KILN (Medieval - 1250 AD to 1350 AD) + Sci.Date
• PITCH MAKING HEARTH (Medieval - 1250 AD to 1350 AD)
• RUBBISH PIT (Medieval - 1325 AD to 1399 AD)
• SITE LAYER (Medieval - 1400 AD to 1499 AD)
• LINEAR FEATURE (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1500 AD to 1599 AD)
• PIT (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1500 AD to 1599 AD)

Full description

See Parent Record MSH23 for a summary of the documentary and excavation evidence for Southampton Castle, a discussion of the development of the Castle, and a full list of sources.

[3] in [4]: Phases relating to Southampton Castle.
Phase 3A. A site layer dating to the mid-late 12th century overlay 11th century occupation. The reasons for the accumulation of this soil are unclear.
Phase 3B. Pits, postholes, ditch and wall, dating to the late 12th to late 13th century. The first features which appear to relate to the castle are a Phase 3B ditch (feature 529) and an associated wall which was later robbed out, found towards the south end of the site. These may represent the primary defensive features on the north side of the castle or may have been an internal division of the bailey into two wards. Roughly contemporary features include four rubbish pits.
Phase 3C. 12th - 13th century rampart, found at the north end of the site. The rampart formed the northernmost boundary of the castle bailey (castle bailey bank). A wall was later inserted into this rampart, perhaps in Phase 3D (the castle bailey wall to the north of the site area).
Phase 3D. Late 13th/early 14th century industrial features and burials. Cut into the slope of the rampart area was the first of a series of increasingly sophisticated limekilns which culminated in a stone-faced trefoil limekiln with a raised floor. The stone-faced limekiln was last fired 1270 +/- 20 (TRM date). A hearth set into a partially backfilled rakeout pit of the limekiln was possibly associated with the production of pitch, perhaps for waterproof cement. Seven human skeletons were found, six of them in the backfills of two limekilns and the seventh in an upper fill of the nearby ditch 529. All seven skeletons appear to have been buried in extraordinary circumstances.
Phase 3E. Large rubbish pits of mid-late 14th century date. (No trace of the rebuilding of the keep in the period AD 1378/88 was found.)
Phase 4A. 15th century site layer.
Phase 4B. 16th century linear features and pits.
Phases 4A and 4B were the result of a decline in the use and regulation of the area during the 15th and 16th centuries. Most of the later evidence points to the area having been used as a rubbish dump.

[6]: The site was an open garden from the time of the castle's destruction in 1822 until the late 19th century when terraced houses were built.

[8]: (Southampton Castle – popular booklet.) Details about the limekiln from [3].

SCC HER: See separate records for castle rampart (Phase 3c), and the wall and ditch in Phase 3B.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESH1537 - Watching Brief in Maddison Street in 1984 (Ref: SOU 29)
• ESH29 - Excavation in Maddison Street in 1980 and 1981 (Ref: SOU 29)

Related records

Associated Links: None recorded

If you have any feedback or new information about this record, please email the Southampton HER (her@southampton.gov.uk).

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