Site Event/Activity record ECH5048 - Chester Amphitheatre Project 2004 - 2007 (Amphitheatre Site III)

Three year programme of survey excavation and assessment proposed for the site. The first season established that there were two successive stone amphitheatres although dating is at present limited (3). Season 1: Area A recorded evidence for ground level slots for timber beams. Previous phases of excavation and subsequent development over the area had impacted some parts of the archaeological evidence with primarily only the deeper features such as cess pits and wall robbing trenches from the pre medieval period. The evidence here would suggest two phases of stone robbing. Area B was located in the gardens of Dee House opposite the Church and so far has concentrated on the full investigation of and recording of a post medieval stone building with substantial cellaring. The evidence from the site suggests two successive stone amphitheatres were built on the site (5). Season 2: Evidence for pre Roman occupation was recorded in the main north entrance in this season of work. Further evidence for the first stone amphitheatre suggest it comprised a standard military style sandstone faced blocks set in shallow foundations possibly as a result of rapid construction. The structure was surrounded by a roadway probably accommodating timber booths and stalls. A small masonry structure, thought to be a shrine was also recorded. The second amphitheatre was a substantial sandstone construction cut some 2.7m wide into the bedrock. Beyond the outer wall a series of 5 - 6 metalled road surfaces were noted. Evidence for the amphitheatre was also recorded at the eastern end close to St John's Church (7) Excavations in Trench A indicated that during the twelfth to fourteenth centuries the seating bank formed the backyards of several medieval tenements, although property boundaries could not be identified evidence for at least three or four properties were noted. Evidence from the south east corner was entirely different with Trenches B and C suggesting this area was under cultivation during the medieval period. It was possible to demonstrate that the top of the Roman walls would have remained visible into the medieval period and may have served as a terrace. During the fourteenth to fifteenth centuries a series of stone buildings appear to have been constructed in Trench B, possibly associated with St John's church (10).