Shippams Factory and Shippams Sports and Social Club, East Street,
Chichester
SU 864 048 (J.Taylor) watching brief, evaluation & excavation
2004 - 2006 Kier Property Developments Ltd WSHF04
 The
location of the Social Club on the outside of the city walls ensured
that the archaeological deposits, whilst contemporary, were of an
entirely different character to those found on the Factory site.
Evidence for a number of phases of defence/boundary ditch construction
dating to throughout the Roman period were found, and the outer
face of the original civitas wall was discovered two metres to the
east of the city wall that stands today. Perhaps one of the most
defining features was an east-west aligned street, running parallel
with East Street and crossing the centre of the Factory site. The
street had been laid on top of a thick deposit of redeposited natural
brickearth, which sealed an earlier ditch, possibly excavated to
define the line of the street prior to its deposition. A number
of phases of remetalling of the street and of roadside ditches were
also evident, including a later box drain which ran along the northern
edge of the street and had probably once been lined with wooden
planks. With the exception of a few patches of heavily truncated
external gravel surfaces and some patches of mortared internal surfaces
very little occupation build up was present on the south side of
the street. The mortared surfaces were associated with a small group
of beamslots and when removed were found to seal an interred neonate,
presumably a foundation deposit for this building. Adjacent to the
eastern side of this structure, and set into the external gravel
surface, were two hearths of a probable domestic nature, whilst
to the west of the structure was a small clay oven which may also
be associated with the building. Elsewhere to the south of the street,
and to the east and west of the aforementioned building, evidence
for structures was found in the form of postholes of various size
and shape. Almost adjacent to the southern edge of the roadside
ditch, and probably associated with the posthole structures, were
three possible bread baking clay ovens. At the Factory site evidence
for an early phase of occupation was present in the form of two
truncated squares of packed chalky clay floor make up with a worn
stone (possibly a threshold) located centrally between the two surfaces.
Sealing the chalk surfaces was a layer of redeposited natural brickearth
into which beamslots and postholes had been dug. Similar deposits
extended along the western edge of the site and probably represent
the preparation levels for floors associated with buildings fronting
a street running north-south and located beyond the western site
boundary.  Also
dug into the brickearth layer were a number of neonate burials again
probably representing foundation deposits for the buildings that
had once stood here. Associated with this period of occupation were
five clay “ovens”, smaller then the bread baking ones
and of different construction, with two being partially constructed
from Roman tile. In addition they appeared to have been fired more
heavily and whilst no evidence was found to suggest their purpose
of use, the presence of a metal workers tray nearby in addition
to the cultural evidence retrieved from contemporary pits may yet
suggest that the ovens were being used for small scale industrial
purposes. Sealing this horizon immediately to the north of the street
and extending along the western edge of the site was a burnt layer.
This layer seems to represent a concentrated fire, possibly associated
with the five ovens, and evidence were found that the area was levelled
soon after the event and covered by a thick layer of gravel surfaces.
Cut into the gravel surfaces were structural postholes, beamslots
and numerous neonate burials indicating that small structures once
stood on these surfaces. In addition, the remains of a sizable robbed
out building with a number of small rooms fronting the northern
edge of the street was found. Buried in the internal part of this
building was a smashed Samian bowl that contained the articulated
remains of a small sheep, whilst a late 3rd century coin hoard was
recovered from a cesspit possibly associated with the above structure.
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