ARCHAEOLOGISTS and students from the University of Chester have embarked on a month-long excavation to unearth clues about the history of Chester’s Grosvenor Park.
Throughout May, students will work with Cheshire West and Chester’s (CWAC) historic environment team to excavate remains associated with the Civil War, Medieval and Roman periods in the city’s park.
Simon Ward, senior archaeologist with Cheshire West and Chester Council, has joined forces with the university for the fourth consecutive year to direct the excavations, which are a key training experience for second year archaeology students.
May’s excavation officially launches a new research initiative between the university and the historic environment team called the Chester Amphitheatre Environs Research Project (CAER Project).
This year’s trench focuses on an area near the boundary with St John’s Church and the site of Cholmondeley’s Mansion.
Excavations in this area last year showed that there are also potential Roman levels preserved here.
For the first time on this project the trainee and professional archaeologists will be keeping an online account of their finds in a blog at www.univchester-parkdig.blogspot.com, so interested parties can keep up to date with all the discoveries.