Monument record 8702 - Excavated Roman? Sandstone Wall Foundation, Grosvenor Roundabout

<1> Oxford Archaeology North, 2020, Northgate Redevelopment Off-Site Drainage Route, Chester: Archaeological Watching Brief Report, R4490 (Client Report). SCH8975.

The foundation of a sandstone wall was recorded during a watching brief in 2020 monitoring the excavation of eleven trenches, as part of the off-site drainage for the redevelopment of Chester Northgate. Trench 6 (THS 6) was situated in the south-eastern part of the Grosvenor roundabout and was excavated to a maximum depth of 1.62m. A 0.45m-wide north-east/south-west-aligned wall foundation was uncovered in the south-eastern element of this trench, consisting of 0.25–0.35m reddish-grey sandstone blocks. To the south-east of this wall, and associated with it, was a reddish-brown clay floor, which was overlain by a 0.65m-deep brownish-grey, sand-silt-clay layer, which contained eight fragments of box flue and a single sherd of pottery dating to the Roman period, along with a stone roundel. The sand-silt-clay layer was cut by a 1.1m wide and 0.36m deep robber trench, which was probably dug to remove the fabric of the putative wall associated with the recorded foundation.

As this trench was approximately 130m to the south of the south-western corner of the Roman legionary fortress, it is likely that the foundations were for the wall of an ancillary building, possibly associated with a structure interpreted as a mansio to the east. However, as this wall seems to have been on a different alignment to those of the fortress and putative mansio, it may in fact be later, the finds from the overlying sand-silt-clay layer being residual. The clay floor to the north-east of the wall suggests that the interior of any putative building would have been on that side.