Site Event/Activity record ECH6208 - Archaeological Excavations at the Former George Street School, Chester

Between May and June 2013 archaeological excavations were carried out by Earthworks Archaeology at the former George Street School, George Street, Chester (centering on NGR SJ 40616 66770). The work was commissioned by PHD1 Ltd. And was undertaken during a programme of extension and refurbishment of the former school building (known also as both the George Street Centre and Trinity Hall). The aim of the excavation was to record any surviving archaeological remains within targeted areas of major ground disturbance associated with the redevelopment of the site. A stratified sequence of archaeological features and deposits dating from the Roman period through to the nineteenth century were identified and recorded. Archaeology of the Roman period comprised postulated clay quarrying pits, structural remains and occupation deposits and, of particular significance, an inhumation cemetery with human remains dated to between the third and fourth centuries AD. Clay quarrying was seemingly renewed during the late medieval period when a number of pits were cut deeply into the natural clay. These pits were then filled with waste material from the manufacturing of roofing tile, floor tile and brick implying production of ceramic building materials, and possibly pottery too, close to the site. Evidence for the expansion of industrial activity and urban dwellings into the Gorse Stacks area during the nineteenth century was encountered also.