Roman Road at Newcastle Bank

Archaeological excavations are currently being carried out on a site near to Newcastle Road, just opposite the Police Station/Civic Centre. The land is scheduled to be built on in a few weeks time, but the builders have allowed Archaeologists from Durham University to investigate the remains of the Roman Road and other finds until the first week of June. It appears that the Roman Road, which ran right through the centre of Chester-le-Street, is now understood to have followed a line to the West of the present Newcastle Road, leaving the mini round-about at the bottom of Pelaw Bank and eventually passing through the grounds of what used to be Highfield Hospital. At the time of writing this News Item, questions were being raised as to some anomalies which had been uncovered. The site had also been the location of a brick and tile works during the early part of the 19th Century (owned by George Murray)and the adjacent housing estate was a quarry where the clay was extracted for that industry. Further information is expected to be made available in the near future. Some views of the "Dig Site" opposite the Civic Centre.