Site Event/Activity record ECH6661 - Former Stagecoach Depot, Liverpool Road, Chester: Archaeological Watching Brief Report

Following on from initial archaeological trial trenching in May 2018 (ECH 6612), a watching brief was undertaken during redevelopment at the former Stagecoach Depot, Liverpool Road, Chester, during November 2018. The Archaeological Watching Brief was undertaken in two phases; Phase 1 was conducted during the removal of the concrete slab across the Site, equating to an area of 3,580m² and the excavation of a Geotechnical survey pit, undertaken from the 22nd May to the 12th of June 2018. Phase 2 was undertaken during ground works for Block C of the development between the 2nd of July and the 10th of October 2018. The intrusive ground works for Block C comprised the excavation of thirty concrete stanchions, linking ground beams, underpinning of the northern, eastern and southern boundary walls and excavations of a 4m wide, 10m long attenuation tank and a 5m by 5m crane base. The removal of the concrete slab across the Site exposed the location and extent of truncation from the construction of the bus depot. Despite the localised truncation, the Watching Brief of Block C recorded a deeper stratigraphic sequence of homogenous buried soils, preserved as a result of the natural bedrock lying on an east-facing incline. No features or deposits of archaeological significance were identified during the Watching Brief. (1)