Site Event/Activity record ECH4022 - Chester Amphitheatre. Geophysical Survey Report in 2004 (Amphitheatre Site)

Geophysical survey undertaken in the area around the amphitheatre comprising seven discrete areas: the guardianship site west and east, Dee House Gardens, Dee House car park, Grosvenor Gardens and St John the Baptist Church, Old Bishop's Palace Gardens and the Roman Gardens. Survey over the Guardianship site has supported the information gleaned from the previous survey in 2002. it has been possible to relate a number of anomalies with the gardens of Dee House to former garden layouts and footpaths rather than the amphitheatre itself. Significant anomalies possibly relating to remains of an earlier church were identified around St John the Baptist Church and across the Grosvenor gardens survey area. However the possible effects of landscaping and garden features must temper any archaeological interpretation. A high resistance anomaly within the garden of St John's Cottage has been identified as a possible archaeological feature. GPR survey within the grounds of the Old Bishop's Palace has identified regions of high amplitude response that may well be of archaeological significance given the assumed proximity of the original bishop's palace. Strong and discrete gradiometer anomalies were mapped in the Roman gardens, as a pipe kiln has been discovered in the north of the survey area it is probable that these responses could be of archaeological interest, although the possibility that they are modern in origin cannot be discounted.