Site Event/Activity record ECH6525 - Archaeological Evaluation at Land at Saighton Playing Fields, Sandy Lane, Chester

Ten evaluation trenches excavated at site of proposed new primary school. Only archaeological features encountered were field boundary ditches and an infilled pond, both recorded on 19th and early 20th century mapping. More recent features, in the form of numerous land-drains and other intrusions were encountered, none of these were of archaeological significance. Similarly, the finds recovered indicate a low level of refuse disposal, probably deposited through manuring practices, during the post-medieval period, together with a small quantity of spent ammunition that betrays the ownership and use of the land by the Ministry of Defence during the 20th century. Perhaps more importantly, however, the evaluation uncovered no evidence – neither structural nor artefactual – to suggest that the Romano-British settlement and field system discovered to the north-east at the Saighton Camp site during 2006–8 (Atkins 2016, 8) extended physically into the current site. This lack of evidence supports an interpretation for a more open landscape as one moves away from the enclosed settlements and their associated, ditched, field systems. Through extensive trial trenching, the field evaluation has achieved its primary objective of assessing the archaeological potential of the site. The results have demonstrated unequivocally that, overall, the archaeological potential of the site is low and, therefore, no further mitigation requirements are considered necessary ahead of, or during, the proposed development of the site