Site Event/Activity record ECH4173 - Roman Middlewich Community Dig; Post Excavation Assessment Report

Community Dig at Buckleys field in 2005. Planned and guided by archaeologists from Gifford in Chester. Majority of the work completed by volunteers from Middlewich. Geophysical survey in June 2005 to identify any buried features was followed by several trial trenches in advance of the summer community excavation. Four trenches excavated are recorded in the booklet produced which summarises the community excavations. It was shown that the principle area of archaeological survival in Buckley's Field was along the eastern edge, adjacent to the rear end of gardens facing onto King Street. There was a marked difference between the trenches in this location and the remainder, which were archaeologically sterile and almost devoid of artefactual material. The earliest deposits, probably pre-Roman although of uncertain date, consisted of a gully and a pit sealed by a 1st century AD soil horizon. The earliest Roman feature was a shallow ditch with a series of thin sand and crushed charcoal surfaces which may represent part of the floor of a structure. This was followed by the first phase of road construction; two parallel dirches were found running north towards the fort at Harbutt's field. Development appears to have become far more widespread in the second century, and the road underwent considerable change as it was resurfaced. By the late 2nd century many of the features appear to have been filled in and the clay-floored building in Trench 12 has been covered by midden deposits, suggesting it has fallen out of use. The occupation centre appearrs to have moved east, as Trench 1 had a series of 3rd century features including a hearth and two large pits. All Roman features were sealed by a uniform layer of grey, featureless subsoil up to 0.5m thick. The provenance of this material is unclear; it contained only one dateable artefactwas a silver Charled I half-groat dating from AD 1631.