Monument record 9046 - Late Roman - Saxon Cultivation Layer (Dark Earth Layer), Bridge Street

During intensive archaeological excavations at 25 Bridge St. (the Debenhams site) in 2001, a cultivation soil layer thought to be of either late Roman (fourth century) or early Saxon date was revealed in several evaluation trenches (1). Overlying the latest clearly identifiable Roman remains, the layer was a greyish brown sandy silt containing well-mixed fragments of Roman material, and an intrusive sherd of later Saxon material. Evidence of either cultivation, pastoralism, or simply of occupation in this area, this ‘dark earth’ layer has been identified at several locations throughout the city in a similar stratigraphic position to this. This horizon was followed by a series of pits and features (CHER 9047) and a timber building (CHER 9048) thought to be of later Saxon date.

<1> Garner D, 2008, Excavations at Chester: 25 Bridge Street 2001. Two thousand years of urban life in microcosm (Monograph). SCH6160.