Monument record 1972 - Heronbridge Roman Site

Heronbridge Roman Site. Settlement on either side of Watling Street and c.600m W of the River Dee, c.2 miles S of Chester. Excavations from 1929-1960 revealed that the settlement extended c.300m on the E side of Watling Street and at least 60m on the W side. Roman pottery and tiles have been found c.0.3km to the N. How far S the settlement extended is uncertain, but it may stretch as far as the rectangular building (RN: 1971).Industrial activity in first phase of occupation c.AD 90-140, but little in second phase, from c.140 onwards. Site was probably used as a trans-shipment point where water-borne supplies could be stored before movement by road. Whatever the character of its early occupation, Heronbridge was a civil settlement from the Antonine period onwards, probably linked with the rural economy, as much as with the fortress. Site is so close to the fortress, it must be part of its canabae. Only feature visible today is linear earthwork (1) & (2). Site has been excavated from l929-60. In 1929 W J Williams investigated the earthwork thought to represent Watling Street and revealed occupation debris from C1-C4 and foundations, surfaces and roads. He dug 140 trial trenches - unpublished. Finds include an inscribed Roman altar dedicated to the Mother Goddess Ollotatae (1). An attempt to accurately locate and ascribe the different archaeological trenches dug at this site has been made by RCHM(E) in the course of the field survey of the earthworks as a whole (13).

<1> Harris, B.E. (ed), 1987, Victoria County History - A History of the County of Chester: Volume I, 1/188-192 1987 (Book). SCH3556.

<2> Thompson, F.H., 1964, A History of Cheshire. Volume Two: Roman Cheshire, /15-16 & 60-65 1965 (Book). SCH2862.

<3> Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, 1911-Present, Journal of Roman Studies, 19/192-3 (N) (Journal/Periodical). SCH1519.

<4> Chester Archaeological Society, Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society, Petch J A & Williams W J 1933 30/109-117 (Journal/Periodical). SCH1595.

<5> Chester Archaeological Society, Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society, Lawson P H 1927 27/No.XC1X (Journal/Periodical). SCH1595.

<6> Thompson Watkin W. T., 1886, Roman Cheshire: A Description of Roman Remains in the County of Chester, /48 (Book). SCH2878.

<7> Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 1883 -, Transactions of the Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 25/150 1907 (Journal/Periodical). SCH3293.

<8> Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, 1911-Present, Journal of Roman Studies, /192-3 (N) (Journal/Periodical). SCH1519.

<9> Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, 1911-Present, Journal of Roman Studies, 24/204 (Journal/Periodical). SCH1519.

<10> Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, 1911-Present, Journal of Roman Studies, 32/110(n) (Journal/Periodical). SCH1519.

<11> Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, 1911-Present, Journal of Roman Studies, 37/170-1(n) (Journal/Periodical). SCH1519.

<12> Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, 1911-Present, Journal of Roman Studies, 38/85-86 (N) (Journal/Periodical). SCH1519.

<13> Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME), 1985, Plan and Report, Heronbrige, 1:1000 (Graphic Material). SCH2651.

<14> Various, Aerial photographs, Williams S R 1976 (Aerial Photograph). SCH128.

<15> Longley D, 1977-1978, Longley Archive, /no.316 (Paper Archive). SCH2005.

<16> Cheshire Historic Environment Record, 1989, Jill Collens' Aerial Photographs, 6.0570 (Aerial Photograph). SCH9711.