Sholing Junior School, Middle Road, Southampton. Archaeological Watching Brief with Option to Excavate (SOU1708)

Capita Property and Infrastructure obtained planning permission to build an extension to existing school buildings at Sholing Junior School, Middle Road, Southampton. Redevelopment included the construction of a 2-storey extension to the south facing elevation to provide 4 additional classrooms and associated facilities. The site lies in Area 16 of the Local Areas of Archaeological Potential as defined in the City of Southampton Local Plan and Core Strategy 2010. Several prehistoric, Roman, Saxon, and medieval finds and sites have been found within 1 kilometre of the site. Of particular interest was a possible Bronze Age burial mound some 60m to the northeast of the site and the possibility of others in the area. The Archaeology Unit of Southampton City Council carried out the watching brief with option to excavate on three days in February and July 2016. The natural was Wittering Formation, and was observed in all trenches. Above it was a weathered natural consisting of a light grey sandy clay and gravel. One layer was of an uncertain date was observed and may have been an interface between the relict top soil above, and the natural below. A layer of light grey soil with brick fragments was possibly modern or early modern. This layer may have been the remnants of a lower topsoil horizon, possibly suggesting that the area was heathland. One layer of tarmac/gravel/sand was at the top of the sequence and was dated to the modern period.