Site Event/Activity record ECH4161 - 6 King's Buildings, Chester; Archaeological Excavation Report (King's Building Site)

An archaeological investigation was undertaken over three days, 6-8th June 2003, on land to the rear of 6 King's Buildings, Chester. The proposed development required the hand excavation of each section of the foundation trenches below the archaeologically sensitive depth of 23.87m OD. A previous evaluation (ECH4287) had established that some remains of the original Roman turf rampart had survived at a depth of 23.87m OD in one of the evaluation trenches and some first century pottery was found to corroborate this conclusion. It has long been established that land within the city walls preserves important remains of the Roman fortress and the medieval city through both historical research and archaeological exploration. This site is believed to preserve one of the last remaining vestiges of the first century turf rampart which originally encompassed the fortress. This excavation has established that the Roman presence is preserved in pottery finds from some parts of this site but that the contexts in which these remains are found is confused by the digging of later pits and tree root disturbance during the centuries between the Roman occupation and the present. Since this excavation only penetrated ground to the depth of 23.52m the turf rampart soil found in the previous evaluations still remains largely undisturbed by these foundation trenches.