Central Winchester Regeneration

Over the summer, PCA has been working alongside the local community at Friarsgate Park in Winchester, the newly-opened green space next to the bus station. The dig concluded with a successful Family Archaeology Event, where around 100 people joined in the fun.

Attendees, particularly young people, had the opportunity to engage directly with history by discovering, washing, and drawing finds unearthed during the excavation. The event also included creative activities like pottery painting and tile design, inspired by the artefacts found on site. These types of events not only raise awareness about local heritage but also help foster an appreciation for archaeology.

This event marked the culmination of a six-week dig, which saw more than 120 community volunteers help uncover Winchester’s hidden history. Friarsgate Park, now fully developed, offers a welcoming space complete with seating, wildflower landscaping, and improved views of the River Itchen. It forms part of Central Winchester Regeneration, a broader effort to breathe new life into under-utilised areas while longer-term plans for the site are still being developed.

While some had called for a full-scale archaeological excavation akin to the one conducted before the construction of the Brooks Centre in the late 1980s, the city council decided on a more targeted approach. This strategy focused on key areas of interest, including the corner of Friarsgate and the bus station entrance, balancing the need for archaeological investigation with time and cost considerations.

The event was covered by the Hampshire Chronicle (click to read the article)

22 July – 30 August

Help our team of archaeologists discover hidden Winchester at Friarsgate, part of our Central Winchester Regeneration site.

Would you like to get involved? Book your place here:

Save the date! 📅
Our next CWR site open day is on 11th November, from 10am-1pm. Guided tours will run every 15 minutes from the PCA gazebo in Abbey Gardens, where there will be a display of the artefacts recovered so far.

The floor surfaces pictured here, 2m below ground level, are associated with large wooden piles driven into the river silts, that may have supported walls. Is this a Roman building or perhaps a Saxon building? With its rudimentary flooring, what was this building and what was it used for?

In Trench 1, beneath two phases of medieval buildings which once stood along Lower Brook Street, excavation was terminated at 2m below ground where we encountered the water table. The deepest deposit in this trench was a black, organically rich layer containing medieval finds. We’ve taken both bulk and column samples from this layer, expecting to uncover a range of organic remains. What lies beneath this deposit? Could it be a long-forgotten river channel, an ancient ‘Brook’?

Meanwhile, in Trench 3, we have floor surfaces at 2m below ground level! These are cut by pits containing medieval finds, including pottery that could potentially be late Saxon. The surfaces are also associated with substantial wooden piles driven into the river silts, that may have supported walls. So are we looking at a Roman building or perhaps a Saxon building? With its rudimentary flooring, what was this building and what was it used for? We’ll keep you posted!

We’re back in action at Trench 1 and on a mission to extend the area, so we can safely excavate to a depth of 2m to reach the horizon of Roman archaeology. As the picture shows, the weather has decided to play tricks on us, and the team are working hard in very challenging conditions.

At the bottom of the picture is the continuation of a medieval wall, with evidence of some masonry being stolen. We suspect they used it in the construction of other buildings nearby, like a good old-fashioned medieval recycling programme!