Monument record 8705 - Excavated Roman Sandstone Wall, Former Bus Station

<1> Oxford Archaeology North, 2020, Northgate Redevelopment, Phase 1, ‘Grassy Knoll’ and Bus Station, Chester: Archaeological Evaluation and Watching Brief Report, R4991 (Client Report). SCH8977.

In 2019, archaeological evaluation of trenches located on the 'Grassy Knoll', undertaken as part of the Northgate re-development recorded a fragmentary, east-west aligned, sandstone wall of probable Roman date. The wall was identified in Trench L, in the area of the former bus station, where most of the latest archaeological remains had been excavated and removed in the late 1970s/early 1980s. The fragment of sandstone walling seems to represent two construction phases. Evidence obtained from the earlier archaeological work in this area, and from more recent investigations at the Story House, north of Hunter Street, suggests that it may form part of a large courtyard building of uncertain function, situated in the central range of the legionary fortress. Overlying this was a dark soil deposit, reminiscent of that overlying the late Roman demolition rubble on the ‘Grassy Knoll’ (see CHER 8704).