Gorse Stacks - 2000 Years of Quarrying and Waste Disposal in Chester

About this book

"The site of Delamere Street lies just outside the North gate of ... Roman and medieval Chester and in recent years has been subject to intensive investigation as part of the Gorse Stacks development ... This publication represents the culmination of those investigations carried out by Birmingham Archaeology during 2006 and 2008. ... The Roman activity on the site was represented mainly by large sandstone quarry pits, which were later reused for the disposal of rubbish from within the fortress. A large quantity of pottery, animal bone, and metal artefacts were recovered from the fills of these pits dating to the late 1st to early 2nd centuries, representing a snapshot of daily life within and around the fortress. ... The quarrying ... was resumed in the 16th century ... with the quarrying being infilled in the subsequent centuries after the sandstone supply had been exhausted. The infilling of this quarry with domestic and industrial waste again provided a snapshot of activity taking place in Chester during the 18th-20th centuries."--Summary, p. vii.