Monument record 8486 - Evidence of a Roman Building and Tank-like Feature pre-dating the Amphitheatre

During excavations carried out at the amphitheatre between 2001 and 2003 (ECH5044), evidence of a building pre-dating the amphitheatre was found below its eastern entrance (2). A wall was found running beneath the foundations of the amphitheatre walling, on a different alignment, which had been robbed out and capped with clay, representing the earliest structure in this part of the site. To its east lay a tank-like feature filled with at its lowest level with silts containing organic material, above which was a layer of sandstone rubble, followed by clean silts representing material that had accumulated more rapidly. The date of these structures is difficult to determine, although the excavators do not seem to doubt that they were Roman, and suggested it may date to c AD 70 - 90 or about the time that the Legion XX was arriving in Chester (2). They speculate that the tank may be related to a water supply system known to have run through Grosvenor Park, one that went out of use c AD 100 (2). The robbed out wall was reported to have been of a substantial size (2, 1).

<1> Chester City Council Archaeology Service, 2002, The Past Uncovered (Newsletter). SCH6032.

<2> Chester Archaeology, 2002, Chester Amphitheatre Excavations; May-July 2001 and May-July 2002. (Client Report). SCH4817.