Monument record 436/1/18 - King Street Roman Road -Stockton Heath Primary School

Excavations carried out in 2007 within the footprint of a new school building revealed a section of a Roman road (this monument, King Street Roman Road CHER 436/1/0) and an associated area of settlement (CHER 7429). The earliest stratigraphic phase (Phase 1) dates to the late first or early second century (2). It seems that the construction of the road dates to this early phase, as a pebble surface was recorded, with a series of narrow, north - south aligned linear features with steep U-shaped profiles interpreted as wheel ruts. Phase 2 dates to the early to mid-second century, and the road was constructed of compacted red sand, grey sand containing pebbles, and concentrations of rounded sandstone boulders . Pottery dating to the early to mid-second century was recovered from one of the wheel rut slots (2). A central route within the road surface was defined by two parallel alignments of roughly squared sandstone blocks, forming kerbs to a demarcated carriageway 6m wide. The road make-up within the carriageway had worn away to form a hollow, and the surviving metalled surface is probably a phase of repair (2). The Roman occupation associated with this road continues into the third century (CHER 7429), however the report is not explicit on what happens to the road at this time. It could be assumed that it continues to be an open route way. Please see CHER 436/1/0 for a broad description of the whole route.

<1> Margary, I. D., 1973, Roman Roads in Britain, /302-303 (Book). SCH2903.

<2> Dodd L., 2010, Excavation of a Roman roadside settlement at Stockton Heath, Warrington 2007 (Article in Journal). SCH6911.