Monument record 11464 - 17th century pit and boundary ditch, 27 Grosvenor Park Road

<1> Gifford and Partners, 2002, Report on an Archaeological Excavation at Deva Garage, 27 Grosvenor Park Road, Chester, R3957 (Client Report). SCH8166.

A large pit and boundary ditch, both dating to the 17th century, were excavated in 2001 on the former Deva Garage Site, 27 Grosvenor Park Road.

The pit lay at the western edge of the excavation and measured 2m in diameter and 1.5m deep, with near vertical sides and a flat bottom. It had been deliberately back-filled with successive tips of fairly sterile material, however, the overlying deposits produced large quantities of cow horn cores, indicating that it may have been related with the tanning process. There was good organic preservation in these deposits indicating the site was prone to water logging during this period. Dating evidence from the fills of the pit comprised mostly residual Roman and medieval pottery, but also a few sherds dating to the 16th/17th centuries.

The feature interpreted as a boundary ditch was a linear cut, aligned north-south, and measuring 1.2m wide, at least 4.2m long and 0.5m deep. Dating evidence from the fills of the ditch again comprised residual Roman and medieval pottery, also 17th century ceramics, including a clay tobacco pipe dating circa 1630-50. Other finds include fragments of brick, a noticeable amount of cattle horn-cores, also coal, sandstone and iron working waste in the upper fill. This ditch appears to post-date the back-filling of the large pit.