Monument record 8721 - Early Roman features, south side of Hunter Street

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

Evidence of early Roman deposits pre-dating the foundation of the documented 'store' building (CHER 8403/1) in Insula XXI, were recorded in 2020-1, during the excavation of a foundation pile mat for the market and cinema on the south side of Hunter Street, part of the Northgate redevelopment scheme. The majority of later deposits in this particular area had been removed previously during archaeological excavations in the late 1970's and early 1980s (Strickland 1982, see source 2). The exception to this was two later stone walls which remained in situ (see CHER 8403/3).

Stratigraphically, the earliest deposit encountered in the eastern part of the site was a spread of loose, red-brown sandy silt, at least 0.22m deep, which produced 30 sherds of late first/early second century pottery, although, this was not obviously associated with any other features or deposits. The western half of the base of a kiln (feature 549) was also encountered; it was 2m long and comprised a roughly circular chamber (unlined), approximately 1m in diameter and over 0.4m deep (its base lay below formation level and was retained in situ), with a flue on the south. The whole feature was filled with layers of ashy silt and charcoal-rich soil. To the west of the kiln was a poorly preserved surface of cobbles and flat sandstone fragments overlain by spreads of dark soil. A small pit (555), 0.5m in diameter and 0.15m deep, was found in the same area, also sealed by the dark soils. Immediately north of the kiln was another circular pit (580), 0.9m in diameter and 0.25m deep, whilst further north still, on the extreme northern edge of the area investigated, was an accumulation of dark grey/black, charcoal-rich soils (514, 519, 548, 560). These yielded large quantities of pottery (the bulk of late first to early second century date) with a small early/mid-second-century component, animal bones, and other finds suggestive of refuse disposal; this was also sampled for palaeoenvironmental evidence.

<2> Strickland, T.J., 1982, Chester (Article in Journal). SCH6299.