Monument record 8334 - Roman Granary 3, Praetentura west, Deva Legionary Fortress

Archaeological investigations in 1954 and 1956 recorded evidence of three granaries on the west side of the fortress adjacent to the West Gate with space for a possible fourth granary, although no trace of one was recorded. The present area is bounded to the north by Watergate Street (via Principalis), Old Hall Place to the east (tribune’s houses), Commonhall Street to the south (barrack blocks) and Weaver Street to the west (intervallum road). The investigations were carried out in advance of the redevelopment of the area in preparation for the new print works for the Cheshire and North Wales Newspaper Co. Ltd. Permission was granted to examine three cellars with ten trenches excavated. Further excavations in 1956 were carried out prior to the construction of the First Spiritualist Church involving the examination of a further cellar and the excavation of five more trenches.

Evidence for Granary 3 (adjacent to Commonhall Street) was recorded in four trenches and comprised traces of an external wall foundation on an east-west alignment and buttress as well as an internal sleeper wall in Cellar I; traces of an east-west aligned external wall and the adjacent sleeper wall in trench 11; and evidence of east-west aligned external walls and buttresses in trenches 14 and 15 in 1956. A ventilator was also recorded in trench 14.
Each granary appeared to be approximately 48.5m in length and while granaries 1 and 3 were 13.7m wide, granary 2 was 13.4m wide. They were separated by a distance of 4.2m.

The external walls comprised a foundation of sandstone rubble and pebble set in rock cut foundation trenches, the walls themselves appeared to be a uniform 1.01m thick with 1m square buttresses regularly placed at 2m intervals.
The evidence recorded from the excavations indicated at least seven internal sleeper walls approximately 52cm thick spaced approximately 90cm apart except between the external walls and the first sleeper walls where the gap was slightly larger.

A ventilator was recorded in Granary 3 on the northern external wall, however as no others were recorded it was impossible to determine their frequency.

The evidence from the excavations indicate a construction date in the early second century (i.e. not before 102 AD). Given the substantial nature of their original build, it is likely that only minimal repair work was carried out in the Roman period before their eventual demolition in the late third or early fourth century. (1)

<1> Petch, D F and F H Thompson, 1959, Excavations in Commonhall Street, P33-60 (Article in Journal). SCH6338.

<2> Thompson, F.H., 1964, A History of Cheshire. Volume Two: Roman Cheshire (Book). SCH2862.

<3> Grosvenor Museum, 1988, Grosvenor Museum Excavation section: Current Activities & Upcoming Sites, p37-39 (Unpublished Report). SCH6282.

<4> Harris, B.E. (ed), 1987, Victoria County History - A History of the County of Chester: Volume I, P145 (Book). SCH3556.

<5> Gaimster D, Margeson S & Barry T, 1989, Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1988, p128-9 (Article in Journal). SCH5630.

<6> Mason, D. J. P., 2001, Roman Chester: City of the Eagles, p64-66 (Book). SCH6164.