Monument record 8168 - Roman rampart building (No 27) at St Martin's Fields

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Summary

Traces of a rampart building near St Martin's Way was recorded in the 1960s with at least two phases of construction in the early Roman period, very little of the interior of the building could be identified in this case however. The area between the rampart and the internal buildings was known as the intervallum. The inner half of this strip was occupied by the perimeter road (via sagularis). Backing onto the rampart was a series of 'rampart buildings' and bread ovens. The rampart buildings were initially of timber but were rebuilt in stone about the start of the second century. Some at least were demolished as early as the middle of that century. In their stone form they contained three rooms and measured 12.3m x 7.3m. They were often arranged in groups of three and may have served as mess-rooms, one rampart building serving two barracks.

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Type and Period (3)

Full Description

Archaeological observations just south of Princess Street during construction for the inner ring road between 1963-5 recorded traces of a building with two phases of construction comprising an early timber period building represented by a timber beam slot and several post pits on a north south alignment and an internal partition wall on an east-west alignment. (1)

The subsequent stone period building was recorded comprising only the southern end. The west wall was identified being 0.76m wide at its base, narrowing to 0.61m above an offset course while the west wall was 0.80m at its base with no evidence of its upper courses surviving in situ. The interior of the building was poorly defined however comprising two amorphous spreads of material. The structure was then capped with a demolition level some 0.68m thick (1)

<1> Chester Archaeology, 1963, Linenhall Street Site Record (Unpublished Report). SCH6564.

<2> Harris, B.E. (ed), 1987, Victoria County History - A History of the County of Chester: Volume I, p158 (Book). SCH3556.

Sources/Archives (2)

<1> SCH6564 Unpublished Report: Chester Archaeology. 1963. Linenhall Street Site Record.
<2> SCH3556 Book: Harris, B.E. (ed). 1987. Victoria County History - A History of the County of Chester: Volume I. p158.

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Location

Grid reference	Centred SJ 402 663 (15m by 24m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	SJ46NW
Civil Parish	CHESTER NON PARISH AREA, CHESTER, CHESHIRE WEST AND CHESTER
Historic Township/Parish/County	CHESTER, CHESTER HOLY TRINITY, CHESHIRE

Protected Status/Designation

Record last edited

Sep 30 2024 4:43PM