Site Event/Activity record ECH6571 - Handbridge Service Station, Chester: Historic Environment Desk Based Assessment

A desk-based assessment was undertaken in March 2018 to inform a proposed development at Handbridge Service Station, Queen’s Park Road, Handbridge, Chester, CH4 7AD. The site comprises a petrol filling station with an overhead canopy which is accessed via either an entrance at the north-west of the site onto Queen’s Park Road or an entrance at the south-west corner of the site onto Handbridge. In the eastern part of the site is a convenience store accessed from the filling area. The northern and southern parts of the site are used for car parking The development proposal is to extend the existing convenience store at ground-floor level onto the existing car park in the southern portion of the site onto the existing car park in the southern portion of the site. The extension is estimated to occupy an area of approximately 110 sq. m. The site is located within Mill Street Character Zone. This zone has preserved archaeological remains that may influence regional perspectives on the development of the city, with the potential for future discoveries of significant archaeological remains from the Roman to post medieval periods. There is known to have been a quarry at Queen's Park Road encompassing the application site from as early at the 15th century. The historic map regression undertaken as part of this study showed that the area of the service station was still in use as a quarry in the latter part of the nineteenth century and so there was no potential for below ground remains to survive. (1)