Site Event/Activity record ECH5520 - GeoArchaeological Assessment of River Bank Deposits near Huntington, Chester

Wardell Armstrong (formerly NP Archaeology) were commissioned by United Utilities to undertake a programme of work on the site of proposed groundworks for Huntingdon Intake Fish screens Huntington Water Treatment Works, Chester in the form of an archaeological desk based assessment, watching brief and geoarchaeological assessment. The work was required due to the close proximity of the site of Heronbridge Roman Settlement, and the possibility for remains to survive relating to medieval fish traps in the River Dee. The desk-based assessment and the watching brief reports (see ECH5519/SCH7028) outline the historic background for the area and detail the possible presence of medieval fish-weirs in the region. In this case the watching brief did not reveal any significant archaeological remains. Two samples of the riverbank sediment were recovered after the initial watching brief phase and were assessed for their archaeological potential, namely the presence of buried soils and the presence of indicators of high levels of organic preservation. The geoarchaeological assessment revealed 6m of sand deposits, with evidence for banded deposition through much of the sequence. It was concluded, however, that organic preservation was generally poor and further work at this time would not add further to the archaeological understanding of this area. (1)