Monument record 8683 - Excavated Roman Ditch and Deposit, Grosvenor Park Road

<1> Wardell Armstrong LLP, 2018, Grosvenor Park Road, Chester, Cheshire: Archaeological Investigation Report, R4313 (Client Report). SCH8698.

An archaeological watching brief undertaken in 2017, at land off Grosvenor Park Road, Chester, CH1 1QL, recorded a ditch feature of possible Roman date in pile cap 7. It was aligned roughly north/north-west to south/south-east, running through the centre of the site, and truncated by a later linear cut feature on a similar alignment and of probable post medieval date. A possible Roman deposit was also observed in pile cap 14 immediately south of pile cap 7, from which a number of Roman artefacts were recovered. The deposit was similar to the buried soil deposit in pile cap 7 into which the ditch was cut. Pile cap 14 was subsequently inundated with ground water and further detailed investigation could not be carried out, though it seems likely that a Roman horizon representing a single phase has survived to some extent in this central part of the site. The fills of both the ditch and the deposit contained finds of Roman date (first to third century AD), including a coin of Domitian (AD 81-96).

An archaeologically significant “dark earth” soil horizon, containing Roman and post-medieval material, was observed in most trenches investigated as part of the 2018 watching brief.