Site Event/Activity record ECH4763 - The City Walls: Archaeological Excavation on the East Side of the City Wall, St John Street, Chester in 2010

Intermittently, between September and November 2010, as the steel wall supports were removed on an unstable section of the City Wall to the rear of properties fronting onto the west side of St John St., Chester (centring on c.NGR 40726627), six contiguous trenches were excavated archaeologically (1). At this archaeologically and historically important location, at the foot of the upstanding City Wall, the trenches were excavated only to the top of significant archaeology. Notwithstanding the limited excavation, the results have confirmed the survival and vulnerability of high quality remains in this location. It is clear that the in situ Roman defences – comprising both the original first century AD turf/clay rampart and subsequent facing of large sandstone blocks that formed the masonry fortress wall - survive in good condition. Of particular note was the identification of an enigmatic and substantial sandstone foundation, cut into the early turf/clay rampart and running perpendicularly back from the line of the Roman wall.