Archaeological Investigations at 5 Bellevue Road, Southampton (SOU1615)

The site was to the north of the medieval town of Southampton in an area where scattered finds from the prehistoric to the medieval period have been made. The aim was to record any archaeology present prior to destruction by development. The natural gravel was overlain by brickearth. A ploughsoil contained medieval and post-medieval finds and points to agricultural use of the area. Running through the site from north-north-east to south-south-west was a linear feature that appeared to have contained a wooden pipe constructed from tree trunks, long since rotted. It is assumed this was constructed to bring water from a point further north, possibly the pond/spring that once lay at the south end of Asylum Green and was known as Padwell Pond. The wooden pipe had been replaced by a pipeline made of tapering, unglazed ceramic pipes laid in a clay-packed trench. An early post-medieval date is indicated for this previously unknown part of the town's water supply. The route of the pipes does not appear on Doswell's early 19th century map of Southampton's water supply system, which does show wooden pipes in some areas, suggesting all memory of it had been lost by the time that map was drawn up. In the late 19th century Bellevue Road was developed with substantial terraced houses with basements which had destroyed the archaeology in the north part of the site. The foundations of the terrace included much re-used medieval masonry from a source unknown, but some architectural fragments and a predominance of Quarr stone suggest a 12-13th century date. The terrace was bombed and cleared post-war.