SDO15256 - Highcliffe Castle, Rothesay Drive, Highcliffe, Dorset. Test Pit Investigation of the East Wing

‘Terrain Archaeology excavated a series of eight test pits to investigate the form and depth of a number of wall footings and sub-floor deposits in the East Wing of Highcliffe Castle. These test pits have provided some new information on the character of a number of wall footings. The north external wall of the kitchen was built on a raised concrete foundation with a stepped brick footing. This is an early example of the use of concrete for wall foundations. The south wall of the kitchen also had stepped brick footings, which suggests it may have originally been an external wall, as none of the other internal walls had stepped footings and may have originally been built as part of Penleaze Villa, the earlier house that stood on this site. The investigations also demonstrated that originally the kitchen floor was at the same level as the passage floor, but was raised to its current level probably at the end of the nineteenth century, when the present cooking range and the stewing/steaming hearths were added. The ground floor room G.22 (built as ‘His Lordship’s Dressing Room’) was originally provided with a suspended wooden floor. Fragments of the moulded ceiling of this room were recovered from below the modern floor.’