Chester Amphitheatre Project Blog

Thoughts from Grosvenor Park ...

2007-10-30T11:34:00.000Z

Dear Bloggers,

As promised, the thoughts and ideas generated from this years excavation in the Grosvenor Park, Chester, are now available to download as a PDF (Portable Document Format). All you have to do is:

Go to the home page of the Chester Amphitheatre Project web site where you will see in 'Latest News' a link to the 'Grosvenor Park Website'. Click on this link and then click on 'About the Park', scroll down a little then click on 'Archaeology' then scroll down to the bottom of the page where you will see a link to the 'Archaeological Report for Grosvenor Park'.

Happy reading.

Grosvenor Park: Latest Discovery: Roman Bronze Spoon

2007-07-23T11:17:00.001+01:00

Another interesting find is part of a bronze spoon, a type that was used in the later Roman period. It has a coating of tin or a tin alloy, possibly to give the appearance of solid silver! Only a small part of the handle survives, which is joined to the bowl with a downward curving arm set at an angle to it, and this continues on to the back of the bowl of the spoon. The bowl itself is 64 mm in length. Although found with the spoon, we are not sure if the two separate pieces of bronze are part of it.

Trench II

Chester Amphitheatre: National Archaeology Week 2007 ...

2007-07-18T12:19:00.000+01:00

July saw the return of gladiators and soldiers to Chester's Roman Amphitheatre. As part of National Archaeology Week Chester City Council's Archaeological Service hosted a fun packed event with a variety of entertaining and educational attractions.

The stars of the day were the Deva Victrix Leg XX v.v re-enactment group who entertained the crowds with bouts of fierce gladiatorial combat and displays of military prowess ...

and this year, for the first time, the Roman Army brought their Egyptian dancing girls!

copyright: P.A. Winker

There was the opportunity to see some of the fascinating finds from not only the Amphitheatre but also from this seasons excavation in the Grosvenor Park!

Try your hand at uncovering the past with the 'Jigsaw Dig' ...

Watch a fascinating flint knapping demonstration ...

and have your own artefacts identified by the Portable Antiquities Officer, seen here with Christine Russell, MP for Chester.

More images from National Archaeology Day will be online soon, so do watch this space.

Grosvenor Park: Latest Discovery: Roman Ceramic Figurine

2007-07-11T10:21:00.000+01:00

Part of a ceramic figurine. Unfortunately, all that we have is the hollow-domed plinth and a pair of feet! Despite this we can identify it as being from a figurine of Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. A garment or piece of drapery, which is held in her left hand, can be seen close to the left leg.

This type of figurine, made from white clay, was produced in Central Gaul and Cologne in the first and second centuries AD. They were presented to the gods at temples and household shrines and sometimes placed in graves.

Grosvenor Park: Latest Discovery: A Roman brooch ...

2007-07-02T15:04:00.001+01:00

A Roman brooch in particularly good condition. It is a type that was made in Britain from the late first century to the middle of the second century, but rarely found in northern Britain. It would have been decorated with two strips of enamel (glass which is fused to the metal), and a small amount of orange enamel is still visible. Unfortunately the pin used to fasten the brooch is missing; so too is part of the chain loop, suggesting that this brooch was one of a pair, linked by a chain.

Grosvenor Park: Latest Discovery: A 16th-century Book Clasp

2007-06-29T11:14:00.000+01:00

Part of a copper-alloy book clasp with engraved ring and dot decoration; probably 16th century. The clasp would have been used to decorate and also secure a leather bound book. It may have come from a church building but a wealthy household such as that of the Cholmondeley's would also have had books.

Trench I

Grosvenor Park: Latest Discovery: 16th-17th-century Glass & Cames

2007-06-29T11:11:00.000+01:00

The remains of a 16th or early 17th century window. Small diamond shaped panes of clear glass are held together by a network of lead strips known as cames to create a large window.

Trench I

Grosvenor Park: Latest Discovery: Decorated Plaster

2007-06-29T11:07:00.000+01:00

This piece of plaster decorated with a butterfly is one of several pieces of decorated plaster work found in Trench I. The other pieces show the remains of a strapwork design and are probably from a decorated plaster ceiling dating to the first half of the 17th century or possibly the late 16th century. The pieces are all in very good condition; it is rare to find plaster in such condition on an archaeological excavation. The pieces give us some clue as to how the interior of Cholmondeley's earlier house was decorated.

Trench I

Grosvenor Park: Latest Discovery: A Medieval Floor Tile

2007-06-29T11:05:00.000+01:00

Part of a medieval floor tile with a line impressed design showing a griffin. The edge of a wing is just visible on the broken edge of the piece. It was made in the 14th or 15th century. It may have been used in St John's church or a building belonging to the church.

Trench I

Grosvenor Park: Latest Discovery: A 17th century Salt-glazed Stoneware Jug

2007-06-29T11:01:00.000+01:00

Fragment from a 17th century salt-glazed stoneware jug with a floral medallion on the front. This sort of jug often has a bearded face on the neck and was made in Frechen in the Rhineland area of modern Germany. They were exported in large numbers to Britain and the rest of Europe.

Trench I

Grosvenor Park: Latest Discovery: A Roman Miniature Axe

2007-06-27T12:37:00.000+01:00

This model axe is a miniature reproduction of a common, everyday object, which served no useful function of its own. Model objects are well-known in Roman Britain and miniature axes first appear in the Iron Age. It may have been a simple good-luck symbol, as miniature axes were also worn as amulets. However, because of its weight, this particular example is unlikely to have been used in this way and may originally have been placed in a grave or a shrine as a votive offering.

The axe is quite crudely made, being roughly wedge-shaped with a narrow, rounded cutting edge. A socket for attachment extends through the head.

Tr III (38), SF 209

Chester Amphitheatre: National Archaeology Days 2007 ...

2007-06-26T15:16:00.000+01:00

National Archaeology Days 2007
Saturday 14 & Sunday 15 July
10:30am-4:00pm
Chester Amphitheatre & Chester Visitor Centre

Help celebrate National Archaeology Days at the
Amphitheatre which will be brought to life by:

Spectacular gladiatorial combat
Roman military display
Talk to the archaeologists about their latest discoveries
Take part in the hands-on activities
Have your own finds identified

FREE ...

For further details ...
j.hebblewhite@chester.gov.uk

Grosvenor Park: The Latest Thoughts from Trench III ...

2007-06-25T12:33:00.000+01:00

We have now excavated sections across both of the ditches uncovered in Trench III. The ditches are both aligned north-south and the most easterly ditch is definitely Roman in date (probably dating to the 2nd century AD). We think this ditch was found further to the north more than 100 hundred years ago when the public baths were built in 1899. The western ditch is more complicated as it appears to have been partly re-excavated in the medieval period and a stone pavement was set into the bottom at this time; possibly so that it could function as a track way?

Beneath the stone pavement are preserved the lower fills of the earlier ditch which we now believe to be Roman; we are still excavating this ditch to see how large it was. It would appear that the westerly ditch is the same one which contained the skeleton of a Roman woman that was uncovered to the north in 1994!

Grosvenor Park: The Latest Thoughts from Trench II ...

2007-06-25T12:30:00.000+01:00

We have recently discovered a large circular pit towards the centre of trench. The original function of the pit is still unknown, though it may have served as a cess-pit. It is more than 1.2m deep and was clearly backfilled with domestic rubbish once it had gone out of use; amongst this material is pottery dating to the 15th or 16th century, which suggests that the pit is contemporary with the large timber building we have found traces of in the northern part of the trench.

An area of cobbling has been partly uncovered in the south western part of the trench. It is too early to be certain but this may be part of a Roman road running across the trench from west to east; the central portion has been removed by the large pit described above and we will have to uncover more of the suspected road on the eastern side of the trench before we can be certain of our interpretation.

Grosvenor Park: The Latest Thoughts from Trench I ...

2007-06-25T12:26:00.000+01:00

We have now confirmed that the northern half of the trench contains a large cellar, which has been backfilled with a mixture of domestic and industrial waste dating to the end of the 17th century. The backfill is also made up of a range of building materials which are probably from the building that must once have stood above the cellar. This building material has included glazed medieval floor tiles and fragments of decorated wall plaster that together indicate a building of some importance.

Decorated wall plaster (butterfly)
and
Fragments of window glass and lead cames

The evidence would suggest that the cellar belongs to an earlier incarnation of Cholmondeley's House, and probably the one which was believed to have been destroyed during the English Civil War (1642-46) and so predates the building shown on McGahey's balloon view of 1852.

We are now in the process of excavating the southern half of the trench in order to locate traces of any earlier medieval buildings that may have occupied the area.

Grosvenor Park: The Latest Thoughts from Trench III:

2007-06-14T12:42:00.000+01:00

This trench was positioned to pick up the line of a large Roman ditch found when the nearby housing development was constructed in the 1990's. This ditch, of unknown function, contained the skeleton of a middle-aged woman. Carbon 14 dating confirmed that she died in the Roman period.

We have recently found another Roman ditch on a different alignment. It is about 3 metres wide. We have also found another ditch which may be Medieval. We don't yet understand the purpose of these features, but they may represent a long-standing boundary within the eastern suburb of the Roman and Medieval town.

In this trench we found:

A 17th century lead cloth seal. These seals often have marks that identify where the cloth was made but this example is badly worn and no mark can be seen. The initials ' NG' have not be been identified so far. The seals were attached to bales of cloth and were a form of quality control.

The lead cap for a gun powder holder. Each holder would have held enough powder for a single shot. The holders were attached to a bandolier worn across the soldier's chest.

A beer bottle marked 'Quellyn Roberts & Co Ltd Chester ' on the front and 'West Kirby' on the back. Until recently Quellyn Roberts was a well known Chester wine merchants but in the early 20th century they also sold beers and cider as well as wine and fine champagnes and had shops in West Kirby on the Wirral and Wilmslow.

Grosvenor Park: The Latest Thoughts from Trench II:

2007-06-14T12:34:00.000+01:00

This trench has produced interesting archaeology of several periods. Two 18th-19th century field drains run north-south across the site. These were commonly used to improve poorly drained land. One is lined with clay pipes, whilst the other has bricks along the base.

In the upper soils we found numerous musket and pistol balls which we think came from a skirmish between Protestants and Catholics in the grounds of Cholmondeley's mansion in 1641 - a year before the outbreak of the Civil War. Numerous Catholics were killed in the firefight and buried some-where nearby.

Running west-east across the centre of the site is the foundation trench for a large late Medieval timber building. We didn't expect to find Medieval buildings of this scale in this location. It may have been a barn or some other form of storage building. Towards the back of the site we found a spread of rubble which may be Roman; perhaps a yard surface or the remains of a demolished building. We anticipate several other Roman features await discovery in this area.

In this trench we also found:

A tin-glazed ware tile made in Seville, Spain in the first half of the 16th century. Tiles such as this are very rare in Chester; they may have been used in small decorative panels.

A lead weight decorated on each side and with a hanging loop at one end. It may have been used as a plumb bob or some other hanging weight or counter weight.

Grosvenor Park: The Latest Thoughts from Trench I ...

2007-06-12T17:03:00.000+01:00

Trench I has been sited to see if we can find the remains of Cholmondley's mansion, an 18th century town house which we think was originally associated with the church of St John.

So far we have concentrated our work in the northern part of the trench. Here we have uncovered several stone blocks and foundations which we think belonged to the mansion. There is also a deep pit in this area. It contained a lot of interesting finds, probably thrown away in the mid-18th century when the mansion suffered a fire and had to be rebuilt. Beneath it there may be a Medieval cellar.

In this trench we also found the jetton and the Cologne stoneware mug ...

see earlier postings for details.

Grosvenor Park: Latest Discovery: Beer Bottle

2007-06-12T14:37:00.000+01:00

A beer bottle marked ‘Quellyn Roberts & Co Ltd Chester‘ on the front and ‘West Kirby’ on the back. Until recently Quellyn Roberts were a well known Chester company of wine merchants but in the early 20th century they also sold beers and cider and had shops in West Kirby on the Wirral and Wilmslow.

Grosvenor Park: Latest Discovery: Decorated Lead Weight

2007-06-11T14:24:00.000+01:00

A lead weight decorated on each side and with a hanging loop at one end. It may have been used as a plumb bob or some other hanging weight or counter weight. The date is uncertain.

Special Visit: Whitehall Farm Roman Villa Project ...

2007-06-06T11:18:00.000+01:00

Twenty members of the The Whitehall Farm Roman Villa Project, came on a special visit to Chester for a guided tour of the amphitheatre and Grosvenor Park excavations.

http://www.whitehallvilla.co.uk/

They can be seen here examining some of the recent finds, which were explained to them by Gill Dunn, Chester Archaeology's Roman finds specialist.

Grosvenor Park: Latest Discovery: A Tile from Seville ...

2007-06-05T15:37:00.000+01:00

A tin-glazed ware tile made in Seville, Spain in the first half of the 16th century. Tiles such as this are very rare in Chester, they may have been used in small decorative panels.

Grosvenor Park: Latest Discovery: Long Cross Penny ...

2007-06-05T15:36:00.001+01:00

A silver long cross penny of King Edward I who reigned 1272 - 1307. The coin is quite worn and the edge appears to have been clipped.

Grosvenor Park: Latest Discovery: Lead Shot ...

2007-06-04T12:38:00.000+01:00

A selection of the many pieces of lead shot that have been found so far, particularly in Trench II. The size of the shot depends on the type of gun for which it was made. Such shot is often associated with the Civil War in the mid-17th century but firearms wre being used before this time. The area around St John's Church is known to have seen a lot of activity during the Civl War so these pieces may well date to that time.

Grosvenor Park: Latest Discovery: Cloth Seal ...

2007-06-04T12:37:00.000+01:00