Monument record 8473 - Road, Metalled Surface around South of Amphitheatre 2

Evidence of the road or metalled surface around the south of Amphitheatre 2 were uncovered by at least two excavations, first in the 1930s (ECH3238) and then by evaluation work in the early 1990s (ECH4853) (2, 3). Newstead’s extensive excavations in the 1930 established the presence of a metalled road at his Site 5, where an antefix (roof finial) with ‘LEGXX’ in raised relief was found (2), while the more recent work identified sections of what is probably the same roadway at three locations.

The surface was made of tightly packed, possibly partially worked sandstone blocks up to 0.2m in length, set into a brown sandy matrix (3). At one location (but note the limited extent of the test trenches for this later evaluation, the surface was cut by a posthole 0.19m in diameter (3). Because of the locations of where it is recorded, it is clear that this surface is related to Amphitheatre 2 (CHER 8470, as opposed to a road associated with Amphitheatre 1 (CHER 8469); this southern part of the roadway is also considered a separate monument from a road to the north of the amphitheatre, largely because the identified locations are discontinuous (CHER 8503).

<1> Anon, 1932, Schedule of the Roman Remains of Chester (Article in Journal). SCH5712.

<2> Newstead, R (Prof.), 1932, The Roman Amphitheatre at Chester (Article in Journal). SCH5708.

<3> Lancaster University Archaeological Unit, 1993, Dee House Chester, Cheshire (Client Report). SCH6185.