Monument record 8716 - Roman sandstone walls and floors, 83 Foregate Street

<1> Oxford Archaeology North, 2022, 83-89 Foregate Street, Chester: Archaeological Fieldwork Report, R4653 (Client Report). SCH9324.

The remains of sandstone walls and metalled surfaces were recorded during the excavation of groundworks at Foregate Street. These potentially relate to a single Roman building forming part of the civilian settlement (canabae legionis) outside the Roman walls of Chester.

The sandstone wall foundations (146 and 170) were identified in Rows A and B of the groundworks within the footprint of 83 Foregate Street. The alignment of the walls suggest that they formed part of the same building. The presence of a possible door post cut into one of the sandstone blocks in wall 146 suggests an entryway at the north end of the wall. Several sandstone metalled surfaces were identified close to walls 146 and 170, and given the location of metalled surface 143 and wall 146, it is possible that the surfaces were internal to the building. Occupation deposits overlying the metalled surfaces produced small quantities of Roman pottery and animal bone, as well as a Roman coin. Much of the pottery appears to date to the middle Roman period (c AD 150–250), though sherds of earlier and later Roman date are also present. In addition, the animal bone provides evidence, albeit limited, of butchery, suggestive of a focus of such activity in this area.