Charles House, 375 Kensington, High Street, Kensington, London

In August 2010 Oxford Archaeology (OA) conducted archaeological trial trenching at Charles House, 375 Kensington High Street, Kensington, London. The programme
comprised six archaeological evaluation trenches ranging in length from 10 m to 30 m, reaching a maximum depth of 4.70 m below the current ground level. Two further trenches were proposed for excavation following the demolition of Charles
House. However, due to the absence of pre-Victorian archaeological remains and the extent of Victorian and modern truncation, Greater London Archaeological
Advisory Service (GLAAS) determined that no further investigation was necessary.
Victorian remains associated with the Victorian Kensington Crescent were discovered in Trenches 1, 2, 3 and 8. These comprised brick walls, brick built vaulted cellars, internal concrete and brick floors and an external cobbled surface.
The remains of the cellars and cobbled surface were less than 1 m below current
ground level, and survived relatively intact up to a depth of c 2 m. The cellars, fronting onto Kensington Crescent were in-filled with a combination of sand and
demolition debris. Trenches 5 and 6 both contained Victorian or later brick built soakaways. No evidence for Roman Akeman Street or associated features were observed in any of the trenches. There was no evidence for any archaeological activity on the site pre-dating the Victorian phase. If earlier features were present it seems likely that they would have been severely truncated by the Victorian buildings, and later ground works associated with the construction and landscaping of Charles House.