Site Event/Activity record ECH6550 - Archaeological Excavation Interim Report: Linenhall, Chester

An archaeological investigation was undertaken between November 2015 and January 2016 on land at Linenhall, off Stanley Street, Chester, in advance of proposed development of student accommodation. A total of nine trenches (the sites of six lift pits and three manhole pits) were excavated across the site and archaeological deposits and features of Roman, medieval and post medieval date recorded. Two trenches (11 and 12) were located within the former friary cemetery and in situ human burials were encountered. A total of 18 articulated and two disturbed burials were recorded and removed for assessment pending re-burial, which must occur by August 2017 under the terms of the Ministry of Justice licence. Further trenches (7 and 8), associated with two crane bases, remain to be excavated as part of this, the Phase 2a, work (see ECH6549 for detail on archaeological scheme of works). Eighteen boxes of artefacts were collected and include pottery, building material, glass, tobacco pipe, metal finds (iron, copper alloy, lead), animal bone and shell, roofing slate and worked stone. The finds range in date from the Roman through to post medieval period. Notable finds include two pieces of Roman glass, one half a melon bead; three fragments of medieval window glass; two lead weights from medieval contexts; a shaped vessel carved from limestone. A total of 23 palaeoenvironmental bulk samples were taken, although no waterlogged or anaerobic conditions were encountered. However, it is anticipated that carbonised plant remains and small ecofacts such as assemblages of small mammal, amphibian and fish bone will be present. Due to the need for re-burial of the human remains before August 2017, they were submitted for assessment and the findings included in this interim report. (1)