Site Event/Activity record ECH6229 - Archaeological Evaluation at the Bull and Stirrup, Chester

In the Roman period the site lay to the north of the defences of the Roman legionary fortress of Deva. The site lies within locally designated Zone 32, which is characterised as being defined by the extent of Roman and Post Medieval quarries. The quarries are thought to have been started in the 80s AD and worked intensively through to the 2nd century AD. During the Medieval period the site was in open rural fields surrounded by woodlands, sparsely populated by farms, cottages and manors. Cartographic evidence for the site indicates that the site has only been developed in some way since the 17th century. The objectives of the evaluation were to ascertain the depth, extent and significance of archaeological deposits across the site, in order to determine an appropriate mitigation strategy to ensure the preservation in situ of significant archaeological deposits or, if this is not possible, their preservation by record. The evaluation encompassed 5% of the development area. Four evaluation trenches were excavated and these exposed the remains of a former stone structure and a series of relict topsoils. These relict soils overlay the remains of Roman quarrying activity and a potential dressing site for large sandstone building blocks.