Monument record 14146 - Excavated Roman Features, St Mary's Commuity Centre

<1> Earthworks Archaeological Services, 2016, Proposed Replacement of Church Hall at St Mary's Without the Walls, Overleigh Road. Handbridge. An Archaeological Evaluation (Client Report). SCH8031.

An archaeological evaluation comprising 9 trial trenches was undertaken in 2016 at St. Mary's Church, Handbridge, in advance of the demolition of the existing Church Hall and the erection of a new Community Centre. Three of the trenches (4, 6, 8) contained Roman deposits comprising linear ditches, possibly plot boundaries, and also a potential post hole and pit; finds indicated a second century AD date.

<2> Earthworks Archaeological Services, 2017, St. Mary's Community Centre, St. Mary's Church, Overleigh Road, Handbridge, Chester: An Archaeological Strip & Map Excavation, p.11-14 (Client Report). SCH8359.

Following on from the 2016 evaluation further archaeological work was undertaken in August 2017 during which the footprint of the new Community Centre was targeted for a strip, map and sample excavation. More features of Roman date were recorded including an angled ditch, 1.2m wide and up to 0.27m deep, thought to represent a property boundary. It contained pottery sherds comprising coarse oxidised wares, black-burnished ware, amphora and a piece of building material. In close association with the ditch there were two potential post holes, also a group of five pits; small sherds of Roman pottery and an amphora were recovered from the fills of these features. Additionally, a watching brief monitoring the topsoil stripping within the area of the new car park in the south-west of the site, recorded a group of heavily truncated and ephemeral pits thought to be of Roman date, along with a possible drain, area of sandstone brash and a right-angled structural feature.