Monument record 2417/1/4 - Roman Road-Chester to Wilderspool (Route 701)

Test trench revealed sandstone waste chipped surface, 9.14m wide and 130mm deep. With a kerbing of hard red clay. Underneath was a layer of soft gray clay, 8.53m x 130mm. Beneath this another road was found of hard red clay with a ditch filled with soft gray clay and stones to the South side. This road was 4.87m wide from North ditch. 2 wheel like ruts 2.13m wide had been filled with stones. On the North ditch inner shoulder a flint arrow head was found. The narrower road of red boulder clay is probably the original ley road used by Pre-Romans and Salters. The ruts are a puzzle due to their width. The road was flat with no agger, and was the same width as other ley roads in Cheshire. The flint arrow head too deep to come from Quarry waste. The overlay and wider road is possibly Victorian, from the Quarry at Manley to Chester (1).

<1> Dutton R J A, 1994, Field Report (Written Communication). SCH1236.