Chester: City Walls Repair
28 January 2010
A 25 metre section of Chester’s City Walls was closed after part of the walls collapsed on 3 April 2008 close to the Eastgate Clock. The walls were stabilised and following extensive surveys, work started in the summer 2009 on dismantling and then rebuilding the walls. The work is expected to last around 12 months. In November 2009 the well-preserved remains of a Roman interval tower were found beneath the foundation of the city wall.
Mike Morris, City Archaeologist said:
'We have been working closely with the stonemasons as they carefully dismantled the City Wall. When they came to the bottom, we excavated an archaeological trench to see what lies underneath. To our surprise, almost as soon as we started digging, a well-made sandstone wall appeared. It was running across the line of the City Wall and was more than 1m thick'.
Mike Morris, City Archaeologist, continues:
'This is almost certainly the side wall of a Roman interval tower. These were rectangular towers about 6m square, placed regularly every 65m or so along the rear of the main fortress wall. They acted as lookout points and as bases for Roman artillery.
The wall will be left intact and the city wall rebuilt above it. However, a tumble of large stone blocks was found on each side of the Roman wall, probably from the collapse of the tower sometime after the fortress was abandoned and before the City Wall was built. It is hoped that these will be reused in the rebuild so that something of this hidden history is visible for future generations.'
The rebuilding of the City Walls can be followed online with a web camera and photograph gallery at www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/citywalls