Monument record 8715 - Roman Ditches/Enclosures, Boughton Road, Chester

Wessex Archaeology, 2020, Moxy Hotel, Chester, Cheshire: Post-excavation Assessment and Updated Project Design, R4525 (Client Report). SCH9068.

A series of ditches and gullies, accompanied by some pits, were recorded during an archaeological strip, map and sample evaluation between 2018 and 2020. The features cut the natural and were sealed by a series of buried soils. Their fills were generally uniform, comprising grey brown clay silt. Some of the early features could be dated by the presence of Romano-British artefacts; others did not contain dating evidence but are probably contemporary with the dated examples. These early features were best preserved in the east, although truncation by later activity had impacted preservation across the site and early features, where these survived, were shallow. Romano-British features were primarily aligned roughly north to south and west to east, perpendicular and parallel to the Roman road situated to the south of the site leading east from the fort of Deva (Chester).

The ditches/gullies probably represent boundaries delineating agricultural enclosures accompanied by a possible routeway. Environmental samples contained cereal grains, suggesting arable cultivation. Hammerscale was retrieved from one ditch although this was the only evidence for industrial activity from the site and the context was also contaminated with intrusive medieval pottery.

The Romano-British features were sealed by layers of buried soil, one of which could be readily identified by a distinctive olive green colour. These soils contained artefacts of a variety of dates, including Romano-British, medieval and 17th-, 18th- and 19th-century. It is suggested that Romano-British pottery recovered was residual and that the buried soils are post-medieval in date. Historic maps show the site was used as gardens during this period.