27 Castle Hill, Lancaster. Archaeological Evaluation.

In October 2003, Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) was commissioned by Roy
Jackson, of Norman Jackson Contractors, to carry out an archaeological evaluation in
advance of the construction of a residential complex at 27 Castle Hill, Lancaster
(centred at SD 474 617). A Roman fort is known to have occupied Castle Hill from
the late 1st to 4th centuries AD, constructed in three successive phases (Fig. 3). There
has been some previous archaeological excavation on Castle Hill but the south side of
the fort has never been precisely located in any of its phases. The site of the proposed
development is therefore potentially of great archaeological significance, being
situated in what is thought to be the south-east corner of the Roman fort. No recent
excavations have taken place in the immediate vicinity of the site and little is known
about the extent and nature of any extant Roman deposits here. It is the last empty plot
on Castle Hill and, unlike the other plots in the vicinity, it was hoped that there had
been no cellaring here in the post-medieval period.
A single evaluation trench was excavated centrally through