Site Event/Activity record ECH6374 - Archaeological Recording at nos 5 to 7 Cromwell Court, St. Martin's Way, Chester

Archaeological recording following the reduction of the floor level to a cellar located beneath No. 7 Cromwell Court, St. Martin’s Way, Chester. The reduction of the cellar floor was part of a programme of ongoing restoration and conversion of Nos. 5 to 7 Cromwell Court into two dwellings. The combined properties of Nos. 5 to 7 Cromwell Court are a Listed Building and located within the Chester City Centre Conservation Area. Cromwell Court lies within an area of high archaeological potential to the west of the defences of the Roman legionary fortress of Deva. Previous excavations and stray finds have shown that the general area was used extensively as a Roman burial ground. In the medieval period the area was part of the Crofts, the open land that stretched the whole length of the western side of the city. Rapid cleaning of the ground surface exposed beneath the cellar floor revealed a linear gully cutting into the natural clay and, to the south, the north side of a sandstone surface; both features were aligned east–west. A soil deposit partially sealing the sandstone surface had later been cut by a handful of pit and posthole features. Dating evidence was sparse but finds of Roman pottery and ceramic building materials were recovered along with Late Saxon pottery. The features and deposits exposed will remain preserved beneath the new floor to the cellar.