Monument record 11518 - Post Medieval Ditch, Chester Racecourse

<1> Aeon Archaeology, 2021, Parade Ring Canopies, Chester Racecourse, Roodee, Chester, CH1 2LY: Archaeological Watching Brief, R4500 (Client Report). SCH9021.

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken in 2021 during the Parade Ring Canopies development at Chester Racecourse, including the monitoring of groundworks associated with the development of a single storey kitchen and serveries building, also a series of fourteen square pits which were to receive concrete bases of octagonal parasols.

During the excavation works, a linear ditch was found to be running south-west to north-east towards to the eastern edge of the development area; passing through the three of the foundation trenches (A, B and D) and continuing through into the easternmost parasol base. The ditch was 2.90m wide and circa 6.25m in length, with a depth extending to a maximum of 1.42m. The upper sides of the ditch appeared gradual and concave before they stepped in sharply; the base of the cut became quite narrow with its sides quite steep before finishing with a sharply concave base. The ditch produced ceramic finds covering a period dating to the early 2nd century AD to the late 20th century. The character and date range of the finds suggest that they represent residual material displaced from a variety of archaeological contexts that have been brought together as a single group via a variety of processes such as backfilling events and natural inundation by rain water or flooding.

Within the southern trench (trench B) there was a discernible undercut at the base of the ditch on the eastern side suggesting this ditch could have been a drainage channel within the flats of the floodplain. This ditch had two distinct fills; the primary fill (106) was a sedimentary deposit 0.12m in depth consisting of a very soft, mid grey-brown, clay-silt, which appeared to have been evidence of natural silting during the period in which the ditch was open, whereas the secondary deposit was significant 1.30m deep, soft, dark grey-brown, silt-clay with frequent charcoal inclusions, occasional fragments of slate, red tile (Roman, Medieval, Post Medieval), rare fragments of ceramic and occasional fragments of butchered animal bone.

Although the ditch is not depicted on the Chester Tithe map or on the ensuing Ordnance Survey maps, it is considered to be post medieval in date. Potentially, it was too ephemeral a feature to depict.