Site Event/Activity record ECH4305 - Murlain House, Union Street, Chester: Archaeological Watching Brief.

A cobbled area was uncovered in the west of the site. This was most likely the remains of Carter's Court, a nineteenth century court with tenement housing. Structural remains were uncovered in the southern area of the site, which could be related to the building shown on the 1875 City Plan of Chester. These remains had been truncated by the levelling of the area when the school and raised frontage buildings were built. An ash pit was discovered in the northern area of the site. This too had been heavily truncated; only the base and a single course of the structure remained. It was probably built in a yard area created by demolishing some of the tenement houses in the late nineteenth century. All features were cut into a buried soil horizon; no excavation went through this layer. Given the location of the site it is likely that Roman remains may survive below this layer, and will be protected by the overlying deposit.