Monument record 719/1/3 - Condate - Excavated Roman road and buildings, south of Waterloo Road

Late 1960s/1970 excavations which identified military-style remains in the area of Waterloo Road (potential annexe to main fort site?):-
ECH6287: 1970, Defences (ditch/rampart) at Cliff Villa
ECH3077: 1967-70, South of Waterloo Road (two-phase road and buildings, later furnaces and associated structures)
Also, in this phase of excavation - ECH3076: 1969, Pottery Kiln, 26 Waterloo Road; the find of the Northwich Helmet during construction of a sewer in Waterloo Road.

<1> Royal Archaeological Institute, 1845-Present, Archaeological Journal, Vol 128, p.31-77, Jones G D B, 'Excavations at Northwich (Condate)' (Journal/Periodical). SCH338.

Rescue excavations were undertaken between 1967 and 1970 to the south of Waterloo Road during a phase of redevelopment which included demolition of the existing nineteenth century houses and replacing them with new housing. Ten trenches were excavated to the south of Waterloo Road. At the east side of Trench 9, a north-south aligned road of two phases was discovered. The line of the road was confirmed in a small trench just to the north, fronting the public house on Waterloo Road (Trench 11). Two road surfaces were present separated by an accumulation of soil and bounded by a U-shaped ditch. The road was lined on its west side with the remains (interior clay floors) of two timber buildings, also of two phases. The pottery recovered indicates a Flavian origin with the second phase of occupation in the early second century AD. Further two-phase building remains (clay floors, construction trenches) were found in trenches 3, 4, 7 and 8, including an alignment of pits in trenches 4, 7 and 8 representing a building of some 85ft (N-S) and thought to be the wall or verandah of a barrack block. Pottery retrieved from the post holes indicate a phase 2 date. In Trench 6, two superimposed clay floors were recorded, the later of which had an associated pit (rubbish pit 3) which contained pottery corroborating an end of Period 2 activity in the early Antonine period.

The superimposed buildings and road were orientated at right angles to a substantial two-phase ditch and rampart discovered in 1970 (Trench 10), some 60m to the north-east, in the garden of Cliff Villa (CHER 719/1/2). This, together with the find of the Northwich calvary helmet in 1969 from the area south of Waterloo Road, led to an interpretation of the site as a two phase auxiliary fort of Flavian origin. After abandonment of the military buidings in the mid 2nd century, part of the area examined (Trench 1) was occupied by furnaces (CHER 719/0/12) associated with probable iron-working.

<2> Jones G D B, 1992, Condate - Roman Northwich: The Last Hurrah (Unpublished Document). SCH3820.

The find of a kiln in Waterloo Road, together with the considerable quantity of dumped first/second century AD pottery found at Weaver Street, could indicate that Northwich was important for pottery production and could be regarded as an organised, military annex, close to the fort.

<3> Curzon J.B, 2000, Condate Castellum - The Rediscovery of the Roman Site on Castle Hill in Northwich (Book). SCH8153.

Interpretative synthesis on the results of the excavations on Castle Hill, including photographs of some of the excavations including Roman timber buildings and the pottery kiln site found at Waterloo Road. Curzon discusses the evidence for two separate forts on Castle Hill, one in the area of Waterloo Road (the area of the 1967-70 excavations), the other further to the north in the area of the excavations unertaken in the late 1970s and 1980s (Bowling Green, Ryder Street, Pleasant Street).

<4> Cheshire County Council, 2002, Cheshire Historic Towns Survey: Vale Royal Borough Part 1: Archaeological Assessments, p.4 (Report). SCH4760.

The important strategic position of Northwich, together perhaps with the presence of brine springs, led to the establishment of an auxiliary fort on the west bank of the River Weaver in the area now known as Castle, elements of which were excavated from 1983 onwards. Two periods of military occupation were identified: the first began around AD 70 and the second finished around AD 140 and there was apparently a gap between the two phases. During the second phase the fort was reduced in size. Excavations in the interior discovered the remains of barrack blocks and a major courtyard building interpreted as a praetorium (commandant’s house). A further rampart and ditch was discovered to the north-east of the auxiliary fort in 1970 (CHER 719/2/2), which led to the interpretation of this area as also being an auxiliary fort. However, both would appear to be of a similar date, and reassessment by Jones (see source 2) has suggested that the rampart found in 1970 belonged to a military annexe of the main fort, rather than forming a separate fort.

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ67SE3 (Index). SCH2487.

See linked card

<6> Council for British Archaeology, Various, CBA Group 5 Archaeological Newsletter, Sept 1970, No's 14-15, also 16, p.8, Curzon (Newsletter). SCH547.

Roman iron helmet found at the Castle site in 1969, also pottery (70-180 AD), glass waste pit and a coin.

<7> Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, 1970-Present, Britannia, Vol 1, 1970, p.282-3 (Journal/Periodical). SCH445.

Traces of Flavian buildings uncovered at Castle, presumed military; also industrial settlement of 2nd century AD with timber buildings, bowl furnaces, pits and updraught pottery kiln.

<8> Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, 1970-Present, Britannia, Vol 2, 1971, p.255-6 (Journal/Periodical). SCH445.

<9> Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, 1970-Present, Britannia, Vol 4, 1973, p.284 (Journal/Periodical). SCH445.