Site Event/Activity record ECH6112 - Geo Technical Assessment at Trafford Street, Chester

Geotechnical bore holes at this site revealed ground to varying depths, being 0.7m in the northwest and 4m in the east and 14.7m and 15.45 in the northern and southern areas of the site. The depth and sudden change in the depth of made ground across such a small difference indicates the presence of a backfilled north south trending cutting. The earliest historic map (1874) does not show the or such on site, however the rear boundary of the houses located in the east of the site is irregular along its length, in contrast to the rear boundaries of all other similar terraced houses in the area. This suggests that at the time if the houses construction, pre 1874, that there was either a feature such as a cutting or a quarry, or a different land owner that caused this irregular boundary. It is worth noting that to the west of the site at this time are a number of north south trending railway lines, with another such line to the north of the site, which terminated in a goods shed that backed onto as east west trending railway cutting. It therefore seems plausible that the deep made ground encountered on site comprises a backfilled railway cutting.