Monument record 1080/4 - Roman Middlewich - Kinderton Street (Bestwick Site I)

Site I - Revealed the positions of three Roman timber strip blgs of the 1st to 3rd C AD, which fronted onto King Street for more than half a mile. First period of occupation consisted of Flavian ditches and post holes with no definite blg plans. The site of these ditches contained salt kiln briquetage, evidence of the establishment of the salt industry in the late 1st C. The 3 strip blgs represented occupation from the early 2nd C to the early 3rd C and were of timber frame construction with wattle & daub walls and tiled roofs. These blgs were associated with a bread oven 3 ft in diam & with 5 circular furnaces or brine kilns with an average diam of 0.9m. Made in 2 pairs in figure of 8 plan. 5th furnace located wihin 1m of other 4 & entire area covered with large pieces of briquetage including many fire bars. Furnace 5 had large fire bars set on end. Large quantities of briquetage suggests used for final storing or drying of salt at temps below 500 degrees C. (1) & (2). Also a small structure with stone-packed wall footings contained well preserved iron objects, including a large spoon & a large pair of shears (3). Finds in Middlewich Library include salt kiln briquetage, wedge- shaped clay supports, clay plates and a fragment of a late 2nd century face urn, which were often used as burial urns (4).

<1> Council for British Archaeology, Various, CBA Group 5 Archaeological Newsletter, 20/8-9 Bestwick J D 1972 (Newsletter). SCH547.

<2> Bestwick J D, 1974, Romano-British Inland Salting at Middlewich (Salinae) Cheshire, /66-70 (Article in Journal). SCH2914.

<3> Council for British Archaeology, Various, CBA Group 5 Archaeological Newsletter, 16/8 Bestwick J D 1974 (Newsletter). SCH547.

<4> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER (Oral Communication). SCH2330.

<5> Council for British Archaeology, Various, CBA Group 5 Archaeological Newsletter, 18/7 Bestwick J D 1971 (Newsletter). SCH547.

<6> Bestwick J D, 1972, Excavations of the Roman Town of Middlewich 1964-1971, /3-4 (Book). SCH1207.

<7> Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, 1970-Present, Britannia, 2/255 Wilson D R 1971 (Journal/Periodical). SCH445.