Site Event/Activity record ECH6607 - 3 Nicholas Street Mews, Chester, Cheshire: An Archaeological Evaluation

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken in May 2016 at No. 3 Nicholas Street Mews, Chester. Three trenches were excavated, two to the rear of the property and one internally. During the Roman period this area of Chester was part of the civil settlement west of the legionary fortress of Deva and adjacent to the quays along the waterfront. Archaeological excavations at the Greyfriars’ Court and Nicholas Street Mews sites have revealed timber buildings dating to the late first and second century and, early in the third century, several stone buildings, were erected. Additionally, the site lies within the former precinct of the Dominican friary and a (probable) medieval burial was recorded immediately in front of the west side of No. 3 Nicholas Street mews in 1885. The present street layout – which bisect the block of land formerly occupied by the Dominican Friary – comprising Grey friars and Nicholas Street Mews, as well as Nuns Road to the west, are all of relatively recent date and were constructed to provide access to the large town houses that were built here during the post-medieval period. Archaeologically, the results of the trial pits demonstrated that deep soil deposits exist within the site. The deposits encountered in trenches 2 and 3 were strikingly similar in character, depth and stratigraphic sequence, and were shown to extend to depths of circa 2.0m below current ground level. These soils were dated by finds to the early post-medieval period (the sixteenth or early seventeenth century) and probably reflect agricultural or garden soils that accumulated following the dissolution of the former Dominican Friary. Additionally, a nineteenth century brick culvert, or cistern, contained within an extensive construction trench, was located to the rear of the property (trench 1). Also, in trench 3, a basement to a former late post-medieval property was encountered beneath the internal floor of the current building. This basement structure was subsequently truncated to the west during the construction of the current property and therefore signifies a period of rebuilding on this plot during the late post-medieval/early modern period. No evidence for any surviving structural elements dating to the Roman period or, indeed, associated with the remains of the medieval Dominican Friary were encountered during the evaluation exercise. Ceramic finds dating to the Roman, medieval and post-medieval periods, along with finds of post-medieval glass and faunal remains, were recovered from the trenches. (1)