Monument record 13000 - Three Medieval Pits, one a probable Corn-dryer/Oven excavated at the Former BT Exchange, St. John's Street, Chester

<1> Earthworks Archaeological Services, 2017, Redevelopment at The Former BT Exchange Building, St. John Street, Chester: An Archaeological Excavation, R4033 (Client Report). SCH8268.

Following on from an archaeological evaluation in 2006 (ECH4135), a limited programme of excavation was carried out on land at the former BT Exchange Building, St. John Street, Chester, between December 2006 and January 2007, in advance of a proposed commercial development. Three pits were excavated dating from the second half of the thirteenth century to the sixteenth century.

The earliest pit in the sequence had been truncated to the north and comprised a vertical-sided and flat-bottomed cut, measuring 1.80m by 2.00m with a depth of 1.20m. The pit cut through earlier Roman deposits and penetrated the underlying natural clay. It contained two fills, the secondary fill produced a single sherd of glazed medieval red/grey ware decorated with an incised, wavy design and dating to the mid thirteenth century or later. It is possible that it was residual.

A second pit cut the first, it comprised a rounded, bowl-shaped cut, measuring 1.40m by 1.40m, with a depth of 1.0m. It contained a packing or lining material of red sand and clay pressed against the side of the cut and into which was set small blocks of red sandstone, large cobblestones and further clay, all combining to form a substantive lining. The fill of the pit produced a small assmeblage of pottery (jugs and jars) dated to the mid thirteenth century onwards. This pit probably represents the chamber of a corn-dryer or similar agricultural or industrial oven.

The third pit was encountered along the northern edge of the excavated area, and extended beyond the limits of the excavation. It had steep sides with a rounded base and measured 0.80m by 2.20m with a depth of 1.80m. It contained a sequence of fill deposits, containing sherds of pottery dating from 1250 to 1500 AD. Of note were pink/white wares dating to the forteenth and fifteenth centuries, a sherd from a jug with applied decoration in the form of a ram's head, and a sherd of green-glazed ware (Tudor Green or Saintonge?) dating to 1350-1500 AD. Sherds from a glass beaker (circa 1500 AD) were also recovered.