Site Event/Activity record ECH5395 - Chester Roman Gardens: Watching Brief

Archaeological monitoring was undertaken during refurbishment works at the Roman Gardens in Chester. The site is thought to have seen activity from at least the Roman period, when it was used for quarrying local sandstone. During the medieval period the western boundary of the site was fortified and a defensive ditch was cut. In the seventeenth century the site was used for cock fighting and at the time of the siege of Chester, in the civil war, the site was once again fortified, however the walls were badly damaged by bombardment. From at least the eighteenth century the northern section of the site contained a clay tobacco pipe kiln, which operated until the early twentieth century. The site was then landscaped in the late twentieth century and converted into an ornamental garden and park. The majority of the deposits encountered during these groundworks dated to the post medieval period, specifically the twentieth century, when the site was developed into an ornamental garden. A linear feature was identified to the east of the garden gate and it is thought that this may represent the Medieval defensive ditch on the site. Two deposits were identified within the northern garden which are thought to date to the Roman period. These deposits were identified at a depth of 0.6m below ground level and contained Roman ceramics dating to the first to third century.