Monument record 10634 - Pipe and Cork Factory, Souters Lane

Historic maps indicate a substantial pipe and cork factory on the site of the present Roman Gardens in Souter's Lane in the nineteenth century. The factory was built adjacent to, and parallel with, the City Wall, possibly incorporating part of the wall in its structure (1).

The factory consisted of a series of long narrow ranges against the wall with several more substantial buildings including a smithy that may have belonged to the same complex. Previous archaeological investigations have recorded substantial evidence of a clay pipe factory in this area in the 1970s and more recently in 2000 (9). In 1973, a large quantity of broken clay pipe fragments were recovered from the Roman Gardens during the installation of a cable trench (2). Several stamps were recorded, and none of the fragments showed any sign of having been used and some were untrimmed.

In 2000, two courses of in situ late nineteenth century brick walls oriented parallel to the city wall were recorded, surrounded by fills containing a large amount of charcoal and loose brick fragments (9). Test excavations carried out in 2012, re-exposed part of the brick structure that had previously been recorded archaeologically. The remains were left below a geotextile membrane (8, 9).

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1872-1875, Metric Ten Foot Scale Town Plan of Chester (Maps and Plans). SCH6780.

<2> multiple authors, 1974, Stray Finds (Article in Journal). SCH5791.

<3> Chester Archaeology, 2000, Dig News (Newsletter). SCH6375.

<4> Chester Archaeology, 2000, Dig News (Newsletter). SCH6376.

<5> Chester Archaeology, 2000, Dig News (Newsletter). SCH6377.

<6> Chester Archaeology, 2000, Dig News (Newsletter). SCH6378.

<7> Ordnance Survey, 1872-1875, Metric Ten Foot Scale Town Plan of Chester (Maps and Plans). SCH6780.

<8> Earthworks Archaeological Services, 2012, Proposed landscaping works at the Roman Gardens, Newgate, Little John Street, Chester, R3294 (Client Report). SCH6716.

<9> University of Manchester Archaeological Unit, 2002, Roman Gardens, Souters Lane, Chester; an archaeological watching brief., R2716 (Client Report). SCH4831.