Monument record 8545 - Late Roman Centurion's House (First Cohort) at Crook Street

Archaeological investigations on the east side of Crook Street encountered evidence of a centurion’s house of the First Cohort in 1990 following the demolition of a warehouse. The earliest evidence of activity on the site comprised the levelling of the area immediately prior to construction followed by at least one timber phase in the late first century. By the second century the timber structure had been replaced with stone foundations comprising the initial construction period and evidence of later internal reorganisation. Following this the archaeological record indicated a break in activity with some evidence of dumping of industrial waste across the site sometime in the mid to late second century. The early third century is marked by a complete rebuilding of the centurion’s house. At this time the size of the building also appears to have been reduced or shifted slightly to the south presumably to widen the alley between it and the adjacent barrack block. Evidence of internal fitments and decoration within the rooms to either side of the stone partition wall suggests a well appointed and high status dwelling. Internal floor surfaces including opus signinum and clay surfaces. Legionary barrack blocks each accommodated a century of 80 men plus their officers, and were normally arranged in groups of 6 (a cohort of 480 men). Narrow streets gave access to facing pairs of barracks. The centurions' quarters were situated at the ends of the barracks, adjacent to a major road - either the perimeter road (via sagularis) or main transverse street (via principalis). The centurions' quarters were divided from those of the rank-and-file by a narrow alley. They were wider than the men's quarters but lacked a veranda. In ground plan they consisted of a corridor with rooms (including a private latrine) opening off on each side. The men's quarters consisted on 14 (later 11 or 12) units of two rooms for approximately eight men, fronted by a veranda that often contained an enclosed latrine at one end. The outer room was used to store equipment; the inner was for living and sleeping and contained a hearth. Only 10 pairs of rooms should have been needed to accommodate a century; the purpose of the spare rooms is uncertain. The first barracks were constructed using a timber frame with wattle-and-daub infilled panels. These timber barracks underwent a varying number of re-buildings in a relatively short period of time. From about AD 100, there was intermittent rebuilding in stone (perhaps with timber superstructures). However, there were also periods of abandonment. A comprehensive rebuilding was finally undertaken in the early third century. These barracks had much the same plan as their timber predecessors. A diminished number of barracks continued to be occupied into the fourth century. The First Cohort was double strength in the first century AD under the command of 5 centurions, and continued thereafter to be stronger than the other cohorts. It was situated on the right-hand side of the headquarters building. At Chester its accommodation is currently poorly understood; it appears to have consisted of at least 5 barracks of normal type and 5 single-range buildings. The buildings at the eastern end of the cohort are yet to be interpreted satisfactorily. There is room for 6 buildings in the position reserved for centurions' quarters.