Monument record 8278 - Roman building at Chester Cathedral

Recent archaeological investigations to the south of Chester Cathedral recorded traces of Roman structural activity to the south of the Cathedral adjacent to St Werburgh Street.

The excavations recorded a construction cutting an earlier Roman soil horizon (CHER 8398) containing the foundations of a sandstone wall on an north-west to south-east alignment in Trench 2a at a depth of 1.1m below ground level. An occupation layer containing sandstone fragments, brick and tile was also recorded adjacent to the wall and made indicate a demolition layer associated with the building. (1)

Archaeological investigation in this area of the fortress remains limited to small scale works, although the presence of several Roman buildings have been indicated. To the east a number of barrack buildings have been recorded on Eastgate Street North (CHER 8313, 8397, 8401, 8388) while to the west there is some evidence of a large complex interpreted as the legionary commanders house (CHER 8379).

<1> Oxford Archaeology North, 2011, Chester Cathedral Quarter, Chester. Revised Evaluation Report (Client Report). SCH6658.

<2> Oxford Archaeology North, 2010, The archaeological investigation of the south side of Chester Cathedral (Unpublished Report). SCH6536.

<3> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER (Oral Communication). SCH2330.