Site Event/Activity record ECH7297 - Chester Sub Aqua Club: River Dee Dive Report

A river survey using echo sounder and side scan sonar, supplemented by a dive survey, was undertaken in 2022 by Chester Sub Aqua Club with the aim of identifying any evidence of a former crossing of the River Dee. This survey followed on from an investigation in 2022 undertaken by the Holt Archaeological Society which noted field boundary features east of Townfield Lane, including one field bordering the river to the west known as 'Bridge Meadow'; a tree was identified by the society as being close to the potential crossing based on the field boundaries. The echo sounder and side scan survey did not find any evidence for structural remains of a bridge. Similarly, no structural remains were observed during the the dives (four divers) apart from a circular timber which, following excavation, was considered to be part of a tree root. At the location of the tree identified by the Holt Archaeologica Society, the dive was extended up the banks to within 1m of the surface. The western bank was covered in cobbles and boulders, it is not known if these were naturally arinsing or placed by human activity, but similar bank sides have been noted on other River Dee dives. Fine gravel was present on the western, deeper side of the riverbed which included slag, no evidence of hematite was found. The depth of the river recorded showed a fairly unobstructed river bed with only a few anomalies; the depth was fairly consistent at around 2m, except for the outside bend of the river close to the fish farm (SJ 398 558), where a depth of almost 5m was recorded. A large number of items were recorded by the metal detector, but these were mostly drinks cans, paint cans and other recent material. A single tile fragment and a number of old bottles were found, many thought to be from the twentieth century. (1)