Site Event/Activity record ECH4275 - Archaeological evaluation at Dee House, Chester in 1994 (Amphitheatre Phase 2)

The evaluation of six trial trenches located in the car park to the east and south-east of Dee House, Chester revealed evidence for the use of the site during the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries (1). This consisted largely of garden soils and of features associated with gardening practices, including the substantial remains of three greenhouses dating from the later nineteenth century. An assessment of levels revealed that the seating-bank of the Roman amphitheatre known to exist beneath the northern part of the car park has continued to dominate the topography of the site up to the present day. A considerable quantity of finds were recovered from the site, mostly post-medieval in date. There was a little residual Roman, Saxon and medieval material. The environmental remains consisted of a large number of animal bones - including part of a turtle shell, the first time this animal has been identified n Chester - which are of uncertain significance because of their provenance in garden soils and make-up deposits (1).