Site Event/Activity record ECH2841 - Excavations on the site of Northgate Brewery, Chester in 1974 - 1975 (Phase II)

Second phase of excavation at the Northgate Brewery site, following ECH2816. From June 1974 to February 1975, it was possible to examine the area to the west of the earlier excavations (6). Unlike the area in which that work was carried out the stratigraphy of this new area indicated that it had been open for almost the whole of the post-Roman period until the nineteenth century. As a result, the work undertaken concerned the examination and interpretation of Roman structures to the west of the earlier site. The archaeological evidence for the Roman period appears to support many of the interpretations made at Goss St. And Crook St. In 1973 - 1974 (6). Timber centurion's quarters and barrack built on the site in around 80 AD and lasted into the second century. Although there were traces of an earlier stone building to the south, the major period of rebuilding of the site in stone occurred in the mid-second century (1). Initial occupation in the area in the early Roman period was limited with only a few stake holes and pits recorded. The first timber structure was built in around 80 AD and continued until the end of the first century when it was replaced by a further timber structure. There is some suggestion of a third timber phase for the structure in the mid-second century before it was replaced in stone in around 120-160 AD. This was followed by the principal stone phase, lasting until the middle of the third century. In around 270-285 AD the building was again rebuilt in stone. There is some suggestion of a late timber phase following the third stone phase. In the post Roman period, the site was largely given over to cultivation with little occupation evidence until the extension of the Northgate Brewery in the eighteenth to nineteenth century (2). Catalogue of Roman mirrors in the Museum (5).