Monument record 11404 - Former Sugar House, Weaver Street

<1> de Lavaux, A, 1745, Plan of the City and Castle of Chester (Maps and Plans). SCH5255.

A former sugar house is recorded on Weaver Street in the 18th century on the site of the former Carmelite Friary. It is possible this was a relict of the friary precinct.

<2> Dee Archaeological Services Ltd, 2024, Archaeological Evaluation Report: The Friars, Chester, R4812 (Client Report). SCH9695.

The sugar house, as depicted on Lavaux's map of 1745, is thought to comprise a building constructed after the Dissolution of the Carmelite Friary (CHER 10334) by Fulk Dutton in the 1540s and subsequently occupied by sugar bakers John Vanburgh and his father. It appears to be located off Weaver Lane. Although’s Lavaux’s map is dated 1745 it might be based on an earlier survey, as it is thought that by 1742 the Sugar House had been demolished and The Friars (CHER 10729) constructed.

Two archaeological trial pits were excavated at The Friars, Chester, in July 2024 prior to proposed redevelopment of the site. The trial pits were excavated to a depth of 1.8m (TP1) and 1.4m (TP2) bgl. In both pits complex and deep sequences of urban stratigraphy dating between the end of the Medieval period and the 19th/20th century were encountered. 18th and 19th century foundation and floors were recorded as well as stratified layers which produced material of 16th to 18th century date. Amongst these layers was a deposit rich in fragments (65 sherds) of unglazed, red earthenware sherds attributed to specialist vessels for use as sugar cone moulds likely associated with the documented sugar house.