Former Ford Site, Wide Lane, Swaythling, Southampton. Watching Brief (OASIS ID: cotswold2-268233)

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology during a geotechnical investigations associated with the development of the Former Ford Site, Wide Lane, Southampton. No features or deposits of archaeological interest were observed during groundworks, and no artefactual material pre-dating the modern period was recovered. The construction and subsequent demolition of factory buildings on the site during the 20th century have caused heavy truncation of some areas. The general absence of any obvious signs of a buried soil horizon in the test pits suggests that the modern development has truncated the underlying natural horizon and, consequently, may have affected the survival of archaeological remains. Despite this truncation the watching brief was able to identify that some areas of brickearth, dirty brickearth and a pre 1930s topsoil survive within the site. This evidence along with the limited extent of the geotechnical pits monitored during this watching brief may suggest that limited and as yet unidentified archaeological remains may be present in other areas, although these will have been heavily truncated by modern development.