Unearthed remains of a previously unknown military site include many coins and French tableware.
During redevelopment of the site in the Devon city archaeologists have described the important discovery, which occurred as important and unexpected. A Roman ditch was first uncovered, with further excavations revealing two more ditches running parallel to each other. These belonged to a previously unknown military site, which was either a fort occupied by an army unit or a defended compound.
Coins and pottery made in the area for the troops, as well as fine red samian tableware imported from France, were also discovered. The find was made by Cotswold Archaeology, which is working with Kier , the construction company, in the run-up to the renovation of a bus station and leisure complex.
Andrew Pye (archaeology officer at Exeter city council) said: “This is a very important, and completely unexpected, discovery, in an area that has been heavily changed by previous postwar redevelopment."Along with other recent work in Exeter, it show just how much of the city’s history can survive in unlikely places, despite the damage caused by bombing and modern concrete foundations.
