Monument record 8693 - Excavated Roman Pits, Grosvenor Park

<1> L-P Archaeology, 2019, Chester Amphitheatre Environs Research Project (CAER): Interim Archaeological Excavation Report for 2017, R4442 (Client Report). SCH8888.

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)

In the 2017 excavation season, a Roman pit was recorded towards the centre of Trench IV on the northern trench edge. The southern part of the pit was excavated, it was sub-circular in shape, c.1.8m in diameter and 0.7m deep and cut into the natural clay sub-soil.

<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 2018, R4443 (Client Report). SCH8896.

In 2018, the excavation of Trench IV continued and a further two Roman pits recorded. The first lay immediately to the east of the pit recorded in 2017. It measured c.1.8m in diameter and 0.7m deep and was also cut into the natural clay sub-soil. A third large pit, interpreted as a refuse pit, was recorded towards the centre of Trench IV, cutting into the fill of the northern roadside gully of the east-west aligned Roman road recorded in previous seasons (CHER 8255). The pit was sub-circular in shape and measured 1.1m by 0.88m and 0.51m in depth. The fill was a dark brown sandy silt containing sandstone fragments, fragments of Roman CBM and pottery dating to the early-mid second century AD.