Roman road discovered in city centre

The road was "really well-preserved", despite being only 400mm beneath the surface in a busy city, a heritage expert says

A well-preserved Roman road is among the finds uncovered by archaeologists in a city centre.

The artefacts have been found in Manchester just below street level on Liverpool Road, near Castlefield.

Archaeologists excavating the site said it was one of the most significant Roman discoveries in the city in more than 20 years.

Graham Mottershead, an archaeologist with Civic who carried out the dig, told BBC Radio Manchester it was an "absolutely astonishing find", adding: "I haven't seen anything this significant in Castlefield for 20 years at least."

"The Romans knew what they were doing when it came to engineering," said Mr Mottershead, explaining they found multiple levels and repairs of the road, which was basically made out of compacted gravel.

He said it was well preserved, with "no potholes in it".

He said a range of Romano-British artefacts had been found, dating from the late 1st to the 3rd and possibly even the early 4th century AD, showing the length of time the vicus - which means civilian settlement - was in Manchester.

The road would have been the main northern exit route from the former Roman fort nearby, a Civic spokesperson said.

Industrial hearths and domestic artefacts including pottery and decorative glassware have also been discovered on the site.

The neck of a flagon was uncovered during the dig in Manchester city centre

Ian Miller from the Greater Manchester Archaeological Advisory Service said: "It's certainly the best Roman archaeology I've seen in the city centre for 20 years and probably more than that."

He said the Roman road was "really well-preserved", which was remarkable given it was only 400mm beneath the surface in a busy city.

The site is near to the Roman fort of Mamucium, which was established around 78 AD and much of which was excavated in the 1970s, Mr Miller added.

It is also close to Roman excavations further south of the site which uncovered parts of the Roman settlement in the 1970s and 1980s.

Sections of a Roman road can be seen in this trench

Mr Miller said that "in some respects, the latest excavation was the missing piece of the jigsaw that will hopefully link to those two together".

He said it should provide more information about what sort of buildings were in the area, just outside the Roman fort, and to re-examine the discoveries of the 1970s.

The dig has taken place as part of a development on the site being carried out on behalf of Allied London.

Mr Mottershead said the uncovered artefacts would eventually go on display in the city, after they had been analysed.