Excavation Archives
We hold the archives - written and drawn records, photographs,
artefacts and environmental samples - from excavations carried out
since 1963, mostly in the centre of Chester, but also in the rural
areas of Chester District. Our collections of finds include:
Roman
- Building materials - tile and brick (many fragments with stamps
of Legion XX VV); painted wall plaster; carved sandstone
architectural fragments
- Pottery of the late first to fourth centuries, especially from
the legionary kilns at Holt
- Glass, especially late first- and second-century
- Coins of the late first to later fourth centuries
- Copper alloy, iron and some lead objects
- Some cremation burials
- Animal bone
Saxon
- Pottery, especially tenth-century 'Chester ware'
- Coins, copper alloy and iron objects in small
numbers
- Organic artefacts, mainly bone
- Animal bone
Medieval
- Building materials - glazed floor and roof tiles; roof slates;
carved sandstone architectural fragments
- Pottery, especially locally produced red/grey and pink/white
wares, as well as imported wares from elsewhere in the British
Isles and from the Continent
- Window glass (some painted)
- Coins, copper alloy, iron and lead objects - in small
numbers
- Organic artefacts - leather shoes and wood - in small
numbers
- Human remains, articulated and disarticulated
- Animal remains and ecofacts
Post-medieval
- Pottery
- Clay tobacco pipes
- Vessel and window glass
- Coins and metal objects - in small numbers
- Human remains
- Animal bone
We also hold multi-period reference collections of pottery,
ceramic building materials and animal bone, as well as a reference
collection of archaeological and modern plant material. For
consultation of our reference collections in connection with
commercially funded projects we charge a basic access fee of £20
per half day plus an optional consultancy fee of £15 per hour.
The size and quality of these collections, together with the
historical importance of Chester itself, make them of regional
significance. We welcome research on them by students, particularly
at post-graduate level. Unfortunately our records are not yet
computerised and we cannot therefore print out customised listings
of objects on request, but students are welcome to make personal
visits to consult original records and look at the collections. For
more details on particular categories of material, please contact
the appropriate member of staff.
Photographs and drawings may be reproduced subject to
acknowledgement of copyright and payment of the appropriate
fee.