Site Event/Activity record ECH4417 - Archaeological watching brief and building recording at 44-52 Bridge Street, Chester in 1999

An archaeological building recording and watching brief, undertaken as part of a programme of refurbishment and alteration at the former Owen Owen Store, Bridge St., Chester, carried out intermittently during a period spanning June to September 1999. This work involved an examination of newly-exposed structural elements, both below and within the existing fabric of the building, has confirmed that former medieval structures have been adapted and incorporated into the present building (see ECH4289). Although the interior of the building, away from the street frontage area, has little or no surviving archaeology, a watching brief and rapid recording exercise during the construction of a new lift shaft clearly demonstrated the survival of important and deeply-stratified remains to the rear of No. 44 Bridge St., these remains probably represent all periods of the city's history.