Site Event/Activity record ECH6157 - An Archaeological Assessment of Proposed Remedial Works at King Charles Tower Steps and North Gate Access Steps, City Walls, Chester

Test pits located close to King Charles Tower (KCT) were excavated in order to inform ground conditions and potential depth of significant archaeology ahead of a proposed programme of repair or replacement to the timber steps providing access to the City Walls. At Water Tower Street a trench was excavated across the width of the road and a small trial pit was excavated at the base of the steps providing access to the City Walls to the west of the Northgate; these too were excavated in order to provide information on ground conditions ahead of a proposed programme of repairs to the City Walls and steps. The King Charles Tower Steps In test pit 1, the clay-silt layers, and group of sandstone fragments and tooled blocks encountered at c. 0.20m below current ground level, can be considered to represent the level of significant archaeology in this location. The general character of these layers – although not fully understood or, indeed, dated – is strikingly similar to material recorded at the base of the City Wall during recent excavation of archaeological evaluation trenches to the north of the steps structure in 2014 In test pit 2 – located c. 3.60m east of the line of the City Walls – revealed no significant archaeological layers or features within the top 1.10m of excavated stratigraphy. The results of this test pit, with the distinct layer of sandstone rubble, reflect those encountered in a previous test pit excavated in March 2015 and located close by (see Earthworks 2015, test pit 6). The lowest archaeological layer encountered in the current test pit produced sherds of pottery dating to the 18th century. Trench 5 Watching brief on an additional liner trench close to the King Charles Tower Step. Results of this trench reflect closely those of previous trenching and test pits excavated close by. A sandstone rubble layer with 18th century finds overlies a clay silt layer of earlier archaeological deposits which appear to extend some distance from the city walls. Water Tower Street, North Gate Steps Trench 1 A narrow linear trench measured c. 5.70m in length and was positioned transversely across Water Tower Street, between the City Wall and adjacent office block. The north end of trench 1 contained significant archaeology in the form of the earthen rampart to the Roman fortress, which was encountered at a very shallow depth below current ground level. The deep soil recorded at the south end of the trench produced solely Roman period ceramics in good, fresh condition and was considered to represent significant archaeology at this location. Trial Pit 2 This trial pit initially measured c. 0.60 x 1.10m and was located at the base of the steps providing access to the City Walls west of the North Gate; the trench was extended up to the City Wall with a final measurement of 1.90m in length north–south. The results of trial pit 2 demonstrated that the east end of the stone steps structure providing access to the City Walls west of the North Gate were founded upon a single course of sandstone foundation. The trench containing this foundation work had been cut into the rubble backfill to a possible subterranean feature. It is possible that the subterranean feature may have formed a basement or similar space beneath the earlier, medieval North Gate structure. The masonary pf ths subterranean structure had been built on an earlier, possibly Roman structure built of large squared blocks of sandstone.