Monument record 8336 - Roman Granary 1, Praetentura west, Deva Legionary Fortress

Archaeological investigations in 1954 and 1956 recorded evidence of three granaries on the west side of the fortress adjacent to the West Gate with space for a possible fourth granary, although no trace of one was recorded. The present area is bounded to the north by Watergate Street (via Principalis), Old Hall Place to the east (tribune’s houses), Commonhall Street to the south (barrack blocks) and Weaver Street to the west (intervallum road). The investigations were carried out in advance of the redevelopment of the area in preparation for the new print works for the Cheshire and North Wales Newspaper Co. Ltd. Permission was granted to examine three cellars with ten trenches excavated. Further excavations in 1956 were carried out prior to the construction of the First Spiritualist Church involving the examination of a further cellar and the excavation of five more trenches.
The evidence for Granary 1 is perhaps the least extensive of the three granaries. Cellar III in 1954 recorded a short section of the northern external wall foundation and a buttress while the southern external wall was recorded in trenches 8 and 12. Traces of two internal sleeper walls were also recorded in trench 12. The lowest courses of the granary were recorded surviving within the wall of the present cellar of medieval origin at 63-65 Watergate Street.
Each granary appeared to be approximately 48.5m in length and while granaries 1 and 3 were 13.7m wide, granary 2 was 13.4m wide. They were separated by a distance of 4.2m.
The external walls comprised a foundation of sandstone rubble and pebble set in rock cut foundation trenches, the walls themselves appeared to be a uniform 1.01m thick with 1m square buttresses regularly placed at 2m intervals.
The evidence recorded from the excavations indicated at least seven internal sleeper walls approximately 52cm thick spaced approximately 90cm apart except between the external walls and the first sleeper walls where the gap was slightly larger.
The evidence from the excavations indicate a construction date in the early second century (i.e. not before 102 AD). Given the substantial nature of their original build, it is likely that only minimal repair work was carried out in the Roman period before their eventual demolition in the late third or early fourth century. (1)

<1> Petch, D F and F H Thompson, 1959, Excavations in Commonhall Street, P33-60 (Article in Journal). SCH6338.

<2> Thompson, F.H., 1964, A History of Cheshire. Volume Two: Roman Cheshire (Book). SCH2862.

<3> Grosvenor Museum, 1988, Grosvenor Museum Excavation section: Current Activities & Upcoming Sites, p37-39 (Unpublished Report). SCH6282.

<4> Harris, B.E. (ed), 1987, Victoria County History - A History of the County of Chester: Volume I, P145 (Book). SCH3556.

<5> Gaimster D, Margeson S & Barry T, 1989, Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1988, p128-9 (Article in Journal). SCH5630.

<6> Mason, D. J. P., 2001, Roman Chester: City of the Eagles, p64-66 (Book). SCH6164.