Monument record 8593 - Roman features at Northgate Arena

Archaeological investigations at the Northgate Avenue car park in 2003 and 2012 identified evidence of a buried soil horizon of Roman date across the site in general. The soil layer was identified in a number of trenches and boreholes at a depth varying from 0.5m to 1m below ground level in the north and 0.7m to 1.2m in the south. In addition several possible pit features and linear feature - possibly a ditch - was also encountered.

<1> Earthworks Archaeological Services, 2003, Archaeological monitoring of geotechnical site investigation, Northgate Arena, Chester., R2729 (Client Report). SCH4845.

Archaeological investigations at the Northgate Arena in 2003 identified remains of a possible Roman date across the site.

The evidence consisted of a pit feature from test pit 6 in the north west corner of the site containing a fill rich in charcoal and soft, friable orange flecks. Although no dating evidence was recovered, the pit cut into the natural clay at a depth of 1.78m below present ground level. Two additional possible pit features were recorded in test pit 2 and a depth of 1.20m below present ground level with a similar pit fill.

An undated plough-soil was also identified in a number of test pits and boreholes across the entire site but at varying depths. In the southern part of the site, the plough-soil was recorded in test pit 2 at 1.27m below present ground level and was cut by two pits, however, in test pit 3 at a depth of 0.74m below present ground level.

In the northern part of the site the plough-soil was identified in test pits 4 and 5 along with borehole sample 5. The soil was recorded at a depth of 0.60m below ground level in the test pits, however, it was identified at a depth of just 0.34m below ground level in the borehole sample.

Due to the limited nature of the investigation and the lack of finds recovered, however, it was not possible to definitively place these features as Roman.

<2> L-P Archaeology, 2012, Archaeological Evaluation Report Stage 1: Northgate Avenue, Chester, R3446 (Client Report). SCH7072.

Archaeological evaluation at Northgate Avenue car park in 2012 identified further traces of the buried soil layer, this time containing frequent fragments of Roman pottery dating to the first to third century AD.

Trenches excavated in the northern part of the site included trench 4 against the northern boundary, trench 3 approximately 40m to the south of trench 4 and trench 5 towards the centre of the site.

In trench 3 the evidence comprised a light brown silty clay soil layer [305] at a depth of 0.5m below ground level containing a single sherd of coarse orange ware abutting a contemporary structure (CHER 8627). Trench 4 encountered a light grey silty clay layer [408] at a depth of 0.7m below ground level containing two fragments of coarse orange ware of a similar date to that recovered from trench 3. The evidence from trench 5 comprised a firm grey clay soil layer [509] containing sherds of ceramic building material at a depth of 0.6m below ground level.

Trenches excavated in the southern part of the stie included trench 6 close to Northgate Avenue itself and trench 7 close to the railway line. The evidence from trench 6 comprised a grey brown silty clay layer [606] at a depth of approximately 1m below ground level interpreted as a possible Roman soil layer while in trench 7 to the east a brown clay silt layer [705] was encountered at a depth of 0.7m below ground level contemporary with a linear feature [707]. The linear feature was approximately 0.5m in width with a U shaped profile on an approximately east-west alignment.