SOUTHSEA CASTLE

Constructed by Henry VIII in 1544 and an active military base for over 400 years, Southsea Castle was withdrawn from active service and purchased by Portsmouth City Council in 1960. Now a Scheduled Ancient Monument and popular visitor attraction, the castle’s brick parapets, which were built as an extension of the fortification in the 1850s and 1860s, required refurbishing to improve longevity by removing voids within the masonry created by washout and reduce to water ingress. Tempo-PCE were awarded the injection works on the strengths of our experience with heritage structures and lime injection.

Tempo-PCE injected the inner face and the top of the sea-facing ramparts: 30mm cores were drilled through the face brick to initially allow trapped water to drain from the masonry, they were then used for grouting . Then a 300 x 300mm staggered injection grid was drilled on top of the parapet and a specialist lime grout injected to refusal, using an air-driven diaphragm pump. All drill results and injected quantities were recorded and mapped. Over 3,000 holes were injected, considerably reducing future water ingress to the parapets.