Site Event/Activity record ECH5897 - Observations at Wavertree, Waterloo Road, Northwich

Observations undertaken following the reports of a wall and floor being discovered during the excavation of foundations for a single storey house extension. The present house is a classic inter-war semi and historic maps would seem to indicate that the site was undeveloped prior to that date (see 3 and 4). Two walls were observed, comprised of a grey mud stone with a strong mortar in sizable quantities. Although unusual, the mudstone probably derives from the local Triassic geology. The western wall of the structure was located in the southern foundation trench and was aligned approximately North-South. It was c.640mm wide and the wall survived within the trench to c.300m, though it was clear from the trench section that a further c.300mm had been removed during the excavation of the trench. The removed material included some sandstone. The wall was described by the excavators as being “very hard to shift” despite the relative friability of the mud stone. The wall seemed to have been disturbed at its southern end by a what is possibly a later feature and a construction trench with infill was observed on the western side of the wall. The second wall, probably the Northern wall of the structure, was located at the northern end of the eastern foundation trench was of a near identical construction and aligned West-North-West to East-South-East. It was c.600mm wide and surviving to one course above the floor level. Between the walls and making up the majority of the base of the eastern foundation trench was a concrete floor surface at c. 1.6m BGL. A small inspection hole had been excavated through the concrete to reveal clean brown sandy clay (natural). The floor surface was approximately 50mm thick. The make-up of the concrete floor, with many CBM inclusions and aggregate (the latter was only visible in the small inspection hole), is strongly suggestive of opus signinum. The material infilling/overlying the site, brown loose sandy clay, contained significant quantities of CBM, one fragment of which has been identified by specialists at Cheshire West’s Historic Environment Team as a parietales. The tile was probably produced at the Holt tile works in the 1st to 2nd centuries AD and would have formed part of a hypocaust, fulfilling a similar role to a box tile. The sections were too unstable to adequately investigate in the time available. This is the first evidence for a stone building found within the vicus of the Roman fort at Northwich and the evidence suggests that this may be the house of the Procurator or a mansio. There is the further possibility that this may be part of a bath house (1). Facing tiles (parietales) were generally in use from the late 1st to early 2nd centuries AD. The presence of a large fragment of facing tile (in good condition) at the site is notable as it must have come from a centrally-heated room/building. This was, therefore, presumably occupied by a person of some wealth or status. Hypocausts used to heat domestic rooms are very rare before c AD 150 – therefore tiles indicative of central-heating are more likely to derive from a baths building. If the pinkish concrete floor from the interior of the room is indeed Roman opus signinum (a type of waterproof concrete), it is also interesting to note that opus signinum was generally used in rooms which required waterproofing (e.g. baths buildings) (2).