Monument record 11511 - Excavated Timber-Framed Building, Grosvenor Park

<1> Chester Archaeology, 2013, Grosvenor Park Student Training Excavation 2013, p. 2-3 (Unpublished Report). SCH7137.

A series of excavations have been carried out, over several seasons, on the west side of Grosvenor Park, in partnership with Chester University, as part of the Chester Amphitheatre Environs Research/CAER Project. The project began in 2007 and one of its principle objectives was to locate the remains of Cholmondeley’s Mansion (CHER 11045). It is thought that the house occupied the site of earlier medieval buildings attached to the collegiate church of St John (CHER 11033), including a chapel dedicated to St Anne (CHER 11033/4), and a range of petty canons houses (CHER 11033/11/3). (See source 2)

The 2012 excavation season recorded the remains of a timber-framed building in Trench IV. The building had an associated brick hearth and a drain, and further ranges of the building appear to have extended west and south. A large Tudor rubbish pit, excavated in 2007, lay adjacent to the building. These structures possibly represent the remains of the precursor to the eighteenth century Cholmondeley Mansion. A widespread demolition deposit, rich in finds of the 16th and 17th century, overlay the remains, and is thought to result from the raising of the mansion by Parliamentarian forces during the Civil War siege of Chester in 1645.

<2> Chester Archaeology, Archaeology in the Park: Grosvenor Park, Chester 2007 (Newsletter). SCH6469.

<3> L-P Archaeology, 2019, Chester Amphitheatre Environs Research Project (CAER): Interim Archaeological Excavation Report for 2017, R4442 (Client Report). SCH8888.

The 2017 excavation season in Grosvenor Park returned to investigating the area of Trench IV, also Trench VIII, the demolition layer was again encountered, producing a range of 16th and 17th century pottery as well as a coin of Elizabeth I dated 1575-79. Overlying this, was a layer of cultivation soil containing pottery dating from the 16th to 19th century. Both the demolition material and the overlying cultivation soil produced a significant quantity of lead shot and associated firearms equipment, e.g. powder holder caps. These objects are thought to be further evidence that the demolition layer is associated with the raising of Cholmondeley’s Mansion by Parliamentarian forces during the Civil War siege of Chester in 1645.

Also, at the western end of Trench VIII, a series of structural remains in the form of a robbed-out wall and an area of hard-standing formed from re-used medieval floor tiles are likely to be associated with part of the Cholmondeley’s Mansion building complex. The wall robbing activity is broadly dated to the 17th century and may well be contemporary with the Civil War.

It is interesting that the evidence shows that the buildings of the 16th and 17th century mansion were not confined just to the very western part of the Park as was the case for the later mansion built in the 18th century. This earlier mansion was possibly a courtyard building with a mix of masonry and timber framed structures.

<4> L-P Archaeology, 2019, Chester Amphitheatre Environs Research Project (CAER): Interim Archaeological Excavation Report for 2018, R4443 (Client Report). SCH8896.

The 2018 excavation season at Grosvenor Park returned to Trenches IV and VIII and further examined the features identified in 2017.