ULAS
University of Leicester Archaeological Services

Roman Leicester Revealed - The Stibbe Buildings Evaluation, Gt Central St

In January and February 2001, ULAS excavated a series of trial trenches on the site of the former Stibbe Buildings on Great Central Street, Leicester. The site lies within the historic core of the Roman and medieval town and is earmarked for redevelopment, although no definite plans have been drawn up as yet.

An initial desk-based archaeological assessment confirmed that there are known archaeological remains, of great significance, within the study area, including the possible north wall of the Roman macellum (market hall) and at least one other Roman building. Roman tessellated pavements, mosaics, painted wall plaster and masonry walls had all been previously recorded on the site. The Cyparissus Pavement, a mosaic on display at Jewry Wall Museum, may also have been found on this site in the 17th century. The site lies partially on the frontage of the medieval High Street, now Highcross Street. The desk-based assessment confirmed the locations of deep cellars associated with the former Victorian Stibbe Buildings, which are known to have caused a great deal of destruction to archaeological deposits. The report also demonstrated that in areas away from the cellars there was potential for their survival.

Ten trenches were excavated across the site, mainly using a 360º mechanical excavator, with three located over the areas of the known cellars, in order to confirm the depths of the cellar floors. The remaining trenches were placed in areas where cellars were unconfirmed.
The trench in the north-western corner of the site, on the Great Central Street frontage, uncovered Roman archaeological deposits, surviving 1m below the present ground surface, sealed by medieval garden soils and modern demolition debris. The Roman remains had been partially disturbed by medieval pits, modern wall trenches and a shallow cellar. The trench revealed a possible Roman road, aligned north-north-west, in the far western edge of the trench. This was bounded to the east by a series of gravel and sand layers, possibly yard surfaces. The remainder of the trench overlay at least two rooms and a corridor of a Roman building.

Three wall lines, parallel with the possible road, were visible as medieval robber trenches (dated to the 11th-12th centuries), with two walls on a perpendicular alignment also hinted at, although unconfirmed. The main part of the trench overlay a single room with a sequence of floor layers that suggested a prolonged period of use and regular refurbishment during the Roman period. One of the floors was constructed of rough grey tesserae (mosaic tiles). A second room to the south was indicated by a small patch of floor, made of red ceramic tesserae, with a very different sequence of floor layers beneath, when compared with those seen in the room to the north. Bounded by two of the robber trenches on the eastern side of these rooms was a particularly well-made grey tessellated floor, appearing to represent a corridor from which these other rooms would have been accessed. The trench could not be extended to the east due to the presence of a substantial modern concrete floor, so it was not possible to see what lay on the eastern side of the corridor.

The trench in the northern part of the site had been disturbed by modern services. However, evidence for medieval rear-yard activity, in the form of numerous pits, was recorded. Areas of the base of the trench also revealed the remains of a Roman building with a stone-lined flue for a hypocaust (under-floor heating system), with mortar floors above.

In the north side of the trench, above the flue, lay part of a mosaic of fine white, grey and black tesserae, and above this, the collapsed superstructure of the building. Evidence for other mortar floors and a wall, since robbed of its stone, were also found within the trench.

The two trenches in the middle of the site revealed well-preserved medieval and Roman levels at a depth of around 1m from the present ground surface. The excavation of medieval pits and part of a well exposed further evidence of the robbed walls and clay floor of a Roman building.
Two small hand-excavated trenches to the south-east provided evidence for post-medieval and medieval buildings. These would have fronted on to Highcross Street, and pre-dated those that were demolished in the mid-twentieth century, prior to the construction of Vaughan Way.

The trench in the southern part of the site was excavated through the brick-built cellars of Richmond Terrace, the terraced buildings that formerly occupied the southern frontage of Friars Causeway. Part of a substantial stone wall, with 0.5m deep footings, was uncovered in the northern part of the trench. The wall was aligned close to east-west. A parallel wall, 2.8m to the south, was also seen surviving beneath the brick floor of the modern cellar. The top of this wall was level and suggests that it was a base for a ‘stylobate’ - a horizontal course of stone blocks onto which columns would have been stood to form a colonnade. These walls may be part of the substantial stone structure seen during the Blue Boar Lane excavations to the south of the site in 1958, the possible macellum (market hall).

The evaluation has shown that particularly well-preserved archaeological remains exist within the area, close to the present ground surface. They may also survive beneath some of the modern cellar floors. At least two substantial Roman buildings were revealed. To the north, a room with a hypocaust (central heating system) and fine quality patterned mosaic floor, next to a corridor with rooms leading off it, was found, suggesting the presence of a high status town house. To the south, on the other side of a Roman street, lay a substantial stone built building, which may have been the town’s market hall - a large public building known as the macellum.

During the medieval period it is likely that this area was mainly gardens or agricultural land, with buildings only on the frontage of Highcross Street and Friars Causeway, thus little structural evidence from the medieval period was revealed in the majority of the site area.

We would like to thank Westmoreland Properties both for their help and co-operation, and for their funding of this project.