Site Event/Activity record ECH6259 - Archaeological Excavation at Eastgate City Walls, Chester

An archaeological excavation and monitoring work was carried out on Chester City Walls either side of the Eastgate, Eastgate Street, Chester and included works on the Eastgate bridge, during investigative engineering works, consolidation and repairs to the historic structure. The work was carried out by L - P : Archaeology. This report has been prepared by Dan Garner of L – P : Archaeology on behalf of William Anelay Ltd. The site is located at the Eastgate, once the main eastern entrance into the Roman fortress of Deva which was established in the mid-late 70's AD. The Norman earls completed the circuit of the city walls in the 12th century; comprising the curtain wall, gates, towers and a ditch; the line of the reconstructed medieval curtain wall being set slightly back from the line of the Roman revetment wall. During the medieval period the East Gate was the most important entrance to the city. Documentary evidence suggests that the Walls were becoming a popular promenade by the late 17th century and by the end of the 18th century the walls were firmly established as one of the main attractions of the city. The 18th century is the first time that there is clear evidence for the City Wall having an inner face. The medieval gates were replaced with the present arches by the late 18th century with the present East Gate bridge being constructed in 1768. The archaeological investigations have identified nine broad phases of activity. Most of these phases can be paralleled in the earlier evaluation works undertaken by Earthworks (Dodd 2013). The only major addition being the Phase VIII wall repair attributed to 1963. The results of the archaeological investigations have served to confirm the sequence of structural development for this section of the city walls. All significant archaeological deposits and structures were preserved in situ as part of the works and as a result there has been minimal loss to the archaeological resource during this project.