Site Event/Activity record ECH6305 - Report on an Archaeological Excavation at Deva Garage, 27 Grosvenor Park Road, Chester

During September-October 2001, a limited scheme of archaeological excavation was undertaken at the Deva Garage site, 27 Grosvenor Park Road, Chester. This work followed on from previous evaluation work dating from 2000 (see ECH6303 and ECH6304). During the excavation six phases of activity were recorded: 2nd century Roman occupation deposits; medieval rubbish disposal; 16th/early 17th century pitting; late 17th/18th century cultivation deposits, drains and fence lines; 19th century brick and sandstone structures; and modern services and structures associated with the former petrol station. Many of the 17th and 18th century deposits produced organic preservation including fragments of leather shoes, bucket staves and part of a large wooden cog. These deposits also contained well preserved plant and insect remains. The horn cores from cattle dominated the animal bone recovered from the 17th and 18th century layers indicating the presence of the tanning industry. Most of the structural evidence on site pertained to pits, drains and boundary ditches, suggesting that the area lay within the back plots of properties fronting onto Foregate Street. It is clear from this work, together with results of the previous evaluations, that archaeological deposits 2-2.5m in depth survive over much of the site, with exception of the area formerly occupied by the petrol tanks which has been voided of archaeological remains and is back-filled with brick and concrete hardcore. (1)