Site Event/Activity record ECH6524 - Archaeological Excavations at Gorse Stacks, Chester. New Bus Interchange Site

The redevelopment of the former Gorse Stacks car park site, Gorse Stacks, Chester afforded an opportunity to undertake a programme of targeted archaeological excavation within the northern area of Roman Chester’s extramural settlement, close to the Roman legionary fortress of Deva. The site, centring on SJ 40725 66721 , is located within Chester’s Area of Archaeological Importance and comprises the former Gorse Stacks car park – incorporating the former Ship Victory public house – located between Gorse Stacks to the south and St. Oswald’s Way to the north. Overall, the programme of archaeological excavation was carried out between November 2015 and January 2016. A sequence of stratified archaeological deposits and features, extending from the Roman period to the 19th century, was encountered and recorded during the project. The Roman features consisted mostly of large but shallow quarry pits excavated for the extraction of the natural clay from the late 1st century and on into the 2nd century. Pre-dating the quarrying was limited evidence for a timber structure of late 1st century date, whilst activity post-dating the quarrying comprised the excavation of gully features. Limited evidence for Roman surfaces was encountered in both areas 1 and 2 and during the watching brief. Finds of Roman period pottery, ceramic building materials, metal objects and glass were recovered. Post-Roman evidence was limited to early post-medieval and 17th–century soil deposits in area 2 and a few 19th–century features encountered in area 1.