Roman Pottery Found on School Site during Expansion Works

A Roman presence has been known in Tattenhall for many years and was thought to have been centred on the Parish Church, where material of this date has been previously recorded.

However, the discovery of Roman features during the extension works currently being undertaken at the Tattenhall Park Primary School is 'significant', particularly since recent work on several developments in the area between the school and the church has shown no evidence of Roman activity.

Dating the evidence unearthed in the most recent pits, which contained an assemblage of locally-manufactured Roman pottery, has been dated to 101AD – 200AD (click on each image to enlarge).

The present results, therefore, may suggest a more extensive, if dispersed, area of settlement in and around the village at this time.

Some readers might recall the 'Roman Coin' that was found in Tattenhall in 1970 and which is held at The Park Primary School. An image of the coin is featured on the Tattenhall Local History Website (under artefacts – scroll down) CLICK HERE.

It is accepted that two Roman coins were recovered from a spoil heap somewhere in Tattenhall in the 1970 and these are recorded in the Cheshire Historic Environment record (CHER 2346). These were possibly associated with the construction of the school but the details are sketchy although it has been suggested that they may have been derived from a dispersed hoard. This, however, remains conjectural and they may represent casual loss. Certainly, there are no records of an in situ hoard being recovered during construction of the school.