Site Event/Activity record ECH6628 - Land at Northgate Fire Station, Chester: Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment

Desk based assessment undertaken in June 2018 in advance of the construction of a new Fire Station on the site of the existing Fire Station at Northgate, Chester. The site lies within a Primary Archaeological Character Zone just outside an area of archaeological importance (Deva Roman Fortress). The assessment has identified twelve sites of local, regional (and potentially national) importance, two of which are from the Roman period of Chester’s history (with Deva Roman fortress and Abbey Green Scheduled Ancient Monuments nearby). A post 1833 Railway map shows quarrying on the south side of Victoria Road. This is not mentioned in the 1847 tithe when the then new residential housing began to be built. The quarrying is most likely to be railway-related and the extent and depth of stone removal and/or dumping was probably to change the topography during railway tunnel construction. Pre-1616 field systems shown on extant historic mapping in the area of St Anne Street possible indicate the likely survival of medieval and post-medieval plough-soils. The historic mapping also confirms that there was no residential housing on the site in 1833, but that Northgate Railway Station and its associated infrastructure were in place between 1850 & 1875. In conclustion, there is a strong potential for survival of industrial and historic railway period (and possibly Roman) remains at a relative shallow depth. (1)