Heronbridge Roman Site is the remains of a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

settlement on both sides of

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main ...

, about south of Chester in Cheshire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, with evidence of industrial activity (furnaces) in the late 1st and 2nd centuries. The site is a

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

Site investigation

The site was found by chance by a member of Chester Archaeological Society in 1929. It lies in undeveloped land, offering the prospect of a site undisturbed in modern times, with much scope for investigators. Excavations took place in 1930–31 and found human remains with evidence of violent deaths. Further investigations took place in 2003–04, and the site was also a target of the archaeological television programme ''

Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...

'' in 2005. In the 2010s about a dozen skeletons from the 1930-31 excavation were re-identified in the collections of the

Manchester Museum Manchester Museum is a museum displaying works of archaeology, anthropology and natural history and is owned by the University of Manchester, in England. Sited on Oxford Road ( A34) at the heart of the university's group of neo-Gothic buildings, ...

, the majority exhibiting severe trauma injuries. Carbon-dating of two further skeletons, uncovered in 2004, is consistent with a date of death in the early 7th century.Bryan Sitch
Aethelfrith of Nothumbria and the Battle of Chester
, Yorkshire Archaeological & Historical Society Medieval Section, Lecture, November 2013.
also pdf

Roman occupation

The settlement was founded on the west bank of the River Dee in the late 1st century AD. It became a significant settlement, with many established stone buildings and a quayside cut into the bedrock. There are also indications of a river bridge in the area, and evidence of trade in

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

(dated to about AD 200) has been found at the inland port. After Roman occupation ended, around AD 350, the town decayed into ruin.

Post-Roman

Overlying part of the Roman town's site, between Watling Street and the river, is an enclosure. It is believed to be an Anglo-Saxon military encampment thrown up after the

Battle of Chester The Battle of Chester (Old Welsh: ''Guaith Caer Legion''; Welsh: ''Brwydr Caer'') was a major victory for the Anglo-Saxons over the native Britons near the city of Chester, England in the early 7th century. Æthelfrith of Northumbria annihilated ...

(AD 611 according to the Irish Annals). The earthwork was reinforced by masonry recovered from the Roman ruins. Archaeological excavations have uncovered a post-Roman mass grave beneath the defensive earthwork, which may hold

Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...

n casualties of the Battle of Chester. The battle was an Anglian victory by King Aethelfrith of Northumbria over a Welsh army. There are three alternative explanations for the earthwork enclosure, however. One is that it was built by Norse-Irish settlers led by Ingimundr, who established themselves near Chester about AD 905 and subsequently tried to capture the city. Second, D-shaped defensive compounds sited beside rivers, such as the Heronsgate earthwork, are a recognised feature of the

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...

. Third, it could have been constructed very much later, perhaps being one of the positions set up during the

Siege of Chester The siege of Chester occurred over a 16-month period between September 1644 and February 1646 during the First English Civil War. In the engagement, Sir William Brereton and the Parliamentarians were ultimately successful in taking poss ...

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

forces in 1644.

References

{{coord, 53.1691, -2.8829, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Roman towns and cities in England Roman sites in Cheshire