Site Event/Activity record ECH6148 - Archaeological Mitigation at Chronicle House, Chester

Archaeological excavation carried out at Chronicle House, Commonhall Street, Chester. The work was implemented because of the potential for archaeological remains on the site. Research shows that the site lies within the extents of the Roman Walled fort of Deva. Previous excavations at this location have revealed roman granaries and occupation deposits. Excavation in the 1950s revealed large Saxon waste pits and Medieval structures dating to the 14th and 15th century; waste from a 16th to 17th century apothecary's dwelling was also found off Commonhall Street, 25m to the east of the site. A total of 5 trenches were excavated, all located within the footprint of the upstanding building/ these were located at points were the depth of excavation for a lift shaft and supports were thought to impact buried archaeological deposits, The results of the excavation revealed a modern build up of concrete and construction layers under which was a series of Post Medieval fills and north-south aligned brick walls. Several of the walls were constructed with a similar brick and lime mortar bonding suggesting a contemporary date. These are likely to be associated to the layout of the site in the 19th century, as seen on the 1871 Ordnance Survey map, with two north-south aligned building across the site and open area in between. A faced sandstone wall as exposed in Trench 3, this use of a different construction material could represent an earlier phase of activity within the site are relating to buildings across the site and open areas in between. A faced sandstone wall was exposed in Trench 3. this use of a different construction material could represent an earlier phase of activity within the site area relating to buildings shown on Stockdale's map of 1796, which shows a singular structure aligned north to south with an open area to its north and East. Dating evidence recovered from the sandstone wall excavation was of late 15th/16th century date. A large [post medieval pit was backfilled with late 18th century material and was situated against the sandstone wall. The fills of the pit included typical domestic waste of late 18th century date and also waste form a stoneware pottery kiln and fragments of sugarcone mould. The latter could be related to the siting of a "Sugar House" to the south of the site as shown on Lavaux's map of 1745. The earliest feature encountered on the site was a sandstone and cobble base which was either medieval of earlier in date, the excavation demonstrated the survival of deep and complex stratigraphy on the Chronicle House Site with evidence for activity spanning the medieval and post medieval periods. The nature of the activity appears to be typical of domestic occupation to the rear of the street frontage properties as seen elsewhere within the sit centre on Bridge Street. The potential fro intact Roman archaeology on the site is indicated by the residual ceramic material recovered from later contexts, however no archaeology or Roman date was disturbed.