Site Event/Activity record ECH7340 - 37 College Green, Chester: Archaeological Watching Brief

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken in 2024 during the groundworks at 37 College Green, Chester, Cheshire, CH4 7HG. The site was found to be truncated with the southern side of the site the only area that contained archaeological deposits. A thin charcoal rich layer (03) was recorded overlying the natural clay, it contained early post medieval and Roman ceramics, indicative of an occupation layer. A thin linear cut feature, orientated north/south was identified near the centre of the site; it cut through the occupation layer and was filled with a mid brown clay silt (05) which contained charcoal, Roman ceramics and a fragment of Welsh purple slate. This feature could represent a beam slot for a building. (1) The linear feature could be Roman, but without firm dating evidence, this is conjectural. The disturbance at the northern end of the site might represent evidence of outworks associated with the 17th-century Civil War siege of Chester. (M.Leah, CCH12490/4, comments)