Monument record 8180 - Roman rampart building (No 29) at Hunter Street

Observations during construction work at St Martin’s Fields (to the rear of what is now the Forum shopping centre) noted the southern half of a rampart building surviving only as foundations. The plan of the foundations only could be traced with no opportunity for further excavation. Two of the three rooms were encountered, the southern-most room being 6.7m long and the central one being 4.57-4.72m long. Traces of a possible earlier timber structure was also recorded with a timber beam slot along the west wall. (1)

Traces of a structure of possible Roman date was encountered during trial excavations at the west end of Hunter Street in 2002. The excavations, carried out by Earthworks Archaeology, identified a possible sandstone foundation [Context 196] cut into a thick deposit of charcoal and sandstone fragments. It was suggested that this formed the northern end of the rampart building (2)

<1> Chester Archaeology, 1963, Linenhall Street Site Record (Unpublished Report). SCH6564.

<2> Earthworks Archaeological Services, 2002, Proposed Northgate Redevelopment, West End of Hunter Street, Chester: An Archaeological Impact Assessment (Phase 5), R2979 (Client Report). SCH5298.