Monument record 13010 - Aneorobic dark silt deposit, 87-89 Foregate Street

<1> L-P Archaeology, 2021, Archaeological Evaluation Report: 87-89 Foregate Street, Chester, R4517 (Client Report). SCH9055.

An archaeological evaluation undertaken in 2020 at 87-89 Foregate Street encountered deep anaerobic silts in four trenches (8a + 8b, 9, 10) between 0.58m - 1.1m below ground level. Dating evidence was sparse, although the silts in Trench 9 produced pottery of late fourteenth to sixteenth century, as well as well preserved animal bone, possibly tanning waste. This layer sealed an earlier brick surface, confirming a late medieval to post medieval date. Three paleoenvironmental samples were taken from the anaerobic silts in Trenches 8a, 9 and 10 which may contain well preserved pollen counts.

<2> Oxford Archaeology North, 2022, 83-89 Foregate Street, Chester: Archaeological Fieldwork Report, R4653 (Client Report). SCH9324.

Further archaeological recording was undertaken in 2021-2022 during groundworks for a new build retail store at 83–89 Foregate Street. This included monitoring the excavation of ground for a new attenuation tank, located at the northern end of the site, and the site of two previously excavated archaeological trenches (trench 8b and 9, 2020, see source 1). The dark, anaerobic silt soil deposit (241) identified previously was again encountered and excavated to a depth of 0.80m, although it continued beyond this depth. A range of finds were recovered (both hand-collected and from a bulk soil sample), and included moderate quantities of post-medieval pottery, CBM, building stone, glass and clay tobacco pipe, as well as animal bone (some with signs of burning), fish bone, oyster shell and a fragment of a copper-alloy bracelet, potentially of Roman date.

A monolith soil sample was taken from deposit 241 which predominately yielded grass pollen, as well as tree/shrub pollen, a few cereal grains and a significant amount of non-pollen palynomorphs. The pollen evidence together with the animal bone data, are suggestive of an open, grassy landscape environment, potentially used for pasture, in the Roman period (to the rear of buildings fronting Foregate Street), later used for the management/housing of livestock and horn working during the earlier post-medieval period.