Roman Amphitheatre

Roman Amphitheatre. Discovery and Excavation. The Romans built amphitheatres in their main centres of power. As a legionary fortress, archaeologists expected there to be one at Deva (Chester), but no remains had been found. Then, by chance, workmen unearthed a piece of curved wall in 1929, and the long-lost amphitheatre had been located., Discovery at school , The amphitheatre was discovered during works on Dee House, then a girls' convent school. Excavations by Professor Robert Newstead established its northern limits, the size of the arena and the positions of two entrances. But a planned new road threatened the future of the site., A road or a ruin? , At the time Chester Corporation had advanced plans to build a road across the monument After a national campaign to save the amphitheatre, the Ministry of Transport vetoed the scheme. The campaign went right to the top of government. The of the and was reported worldwide in papers such as the New York Times. The Chester Archaeological Society bought St John's House on the northern half of the site, to ensure that it could eventually be excavated., Digging deeper , Large-scale excavations took place in the 1960s and led to the exposure of the remains you can see now. Between 2004 and 2006 further excavations took place and gave us a new understanding of the site., As little of the structure survived and what remained was in poor condition, the latest excavations were covered over. In 2010 replica walls were built to show the position of the original stonework. Where you are standing is 3 metres above the level of the Roman arena floor which extended across this area.