Site Event/Activity record ECH6619 - Ground Investigations at Bollands Court, Commonhall Street, Chester: An Archaeological Watching Brief

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken in 2018 during geotechnical ground investigations at Bollands Court, Commonhall Street, Chester (centring on NGR SJ 40443 66163). The ground investigations were carried out ahead of proposals to redevelop the site. Six bore holes were excavated from which window samples of the buried ground strata were retrieved. The window samples were examined for potential archaeological deposits, and the depths and thickness of the soil deposits recorded. In broad terms, the results obtained from window samples 1, 2 and 3 suggest that archaeological deposits exist within the area of Block 1 at a general depth of approximately 1.60m below current ground level. The presence of some Roman period ceramic building materials, including pink mortar, also the general place low down within the stratified sequence, suggests that these deposits are probably of Roman date. Within the area of Block 2 the general picture is not clear and archaeological deposits were potentially encountered here at depths of between circa 0.95m (WS 5) and approximately 2.50m (WS 4 and 6) below current ground level. However, structural remains do survive at shallow depths below the current ground level within the area of Block 2 (see Earthworks 2014) and remain potentially vulnerable to any future ground disturbance. In WS 5, the deep deposit encountered here may have formed the fill to a deep cut, or negative, feature such as a pit, ditch or well. (1)