Monument record 11514 - Excavated Post Medieval Sandstone Wall, St Martin's Way

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

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken in 2020 during the excavation of several cruciform trenches, as part of the off-site drainage, for the re-development of Chester Northgate. Trench 3 was situated on the eastern side of St Martin’s Way and was excavated to a depth of 1.0m. The earliest feature identified within this trench was sandstone wall, measuring 0.80m wide and spanning the width of the eastern arm of the trench. The wall was aligned north/south and constructed from red sandstone blocks, some roughly hewn, bonded with a yellow sandy lime mortar, and surviving to a height of two courses. It is thought to be eighteenth century in date and represent the remains of a cellar. East of the wall, there was evidence of two backfill deposits, presumably cellar backfills. The cellar would have been associated with the buildings which fronted the eastern side of the former Linen Hall Street, as shown on the 1874 Ordnance Survey town plan of Chester