Site Event/Activity record ECH6729 - Land at Northgate Fire Station, Chester: Archaeological Evaluation

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken in October 2018 in support of a proposal to demolish the existing fire station on St Anne Street and develop a replacement. This evaluation follows on from the production of a desk-based assessment and comprised trial-trenching a 5% sample of the site. Nine trenches were excavated over a period of 15 days. Excavations within the evaluation trenches revealed a series of deposits, with evidence for mid to late 19th century railway construction of Northgate Railway Station and adjacent Goods Yard, with remnants of Romano-British field systems in the lower deposits, sealed by 18th/19th century city waste. It is highly likely this waste is either tanning waste, or a night-soil, exported from the city of Chester as landfill, prior to the land being developed for the railway. The landfill was used to level up the natural west to east slope coming down from Windmill Lane. (1)