Monument record 8413/3 - Roman Barracks Block C (latera praetorii west), further evidence

<1> Oxford Archaeology North, 2022, Chester Northgate Redevelopment: Phase 1 Post-Excavation Assessment Report, R4690 (Client Report). SCH9431.

Further evidence for barrack block C (OAN Building 803) in Insula XXII (see also CHER 8413/1-2) was recorded in 2020-1 during groundworks undertaken during the Northgate redevelopment. Fragments of a pair of parallel, east/west-aligned stone walls recorded in pile cap C9 (feature 727, on the south; 725, to the north) appear, spatially, to be associated with the early phase of this structure, as they correspond to the estimated positions of the north wall of the second century AD contubernia block and the footing for the veranda on the north side of the block, but do not align so well with the predicted walls of the later, third century, barrack. What was probably another section of the north wall of the contubernia block (603) was exposed in a pile cap immediately to the east, whilst a small fragment of the veranda wall (756) was found in another pile cap to the west. In the extreme south-east corner of the same pile cap, a small fragment of north/south walling (757) might have been part of a partition wall between two of the contubernia.

A fragment of north/south wall, recorded in pile cap C8 (759), may represent a partition in the later phase (third century AD) contubernia block. A short section of east/west walling (757) was recorded in the same pile cap (757) but does not conform to the predicted plan of the contubernia.