Monument record 10945 - Post medieval quarrying at Delamere Street

The area around Delamere Street has been used for sandstone extraction since the Roman period and certainly by the 16th century there are references to quarrying in the area. By the late 18th century, however, the cutting of the canal meant a substantial increase in industrial sites in the area and by the start of the 19th century, any quarry pits had been largely infilled and built over. (1)

A series of archaeological investigations were carried out in the area prior to redevelopment between 2004 and 2008 identifying evidence of post medieval quarrying from at least the 17th century onwards.

Although excavations in 2004 and 2006 failed to identify any concrete evidence of quarrying, a single trench in 2006 recorded a deep rock cut disturbance that may reflect quarrying of uncertain age and extent. The evidence consisted of the northern edge of a sandstone quarry containing quantities of 18th century material from its upper fills. (2)

The evidence from the 2008 phase of excavations identified evidence of several large quarries, including one rectangular example of a 16th century date [5063] measuring 95m east-west, 50m north-south and 12.70m deep. Large quantities of material were recovered from the quarry from the late 16th century into the 20th century including well stratified 17th and 18th century pottery. (3)

<1> Mason Welland Archaeological Consultancy, 2001, Delamere Street Bus Station, Chester: Archaeological Impact Assessment, R2402 (Client Report). SCH4231.

<2> Earthworks Archaeological Services, 2008, Land Bounded by Delamere Street, Upper Northgate Street and St Oswald's Way, Chester Further Archaeological Evaluation, R3016 (Client Report). SCH5368.

<3> Birmingham Archaeology, 2009, Delamere Street, Chester: Archaeological Watching Brief on the Excavation of the Quarry, 2008, Post-excavation Assessment, R3213 (Client Report). SCH6541.

<4> Cuttler R, Hepburn S, Hewitson C & Krawiec K., 2012, Gorse Stacks - 2000 Years of Quarrying and Waste Disposal in Chester (Monograph). SCH6906.