An evaluation was commissioned to assess any archaeological remains in advance of the proposed redevelopment of the St James's Car Park at Adelaide Place. The evaluation was carried out in April, 1994.

The evaluation area comprised part of the Adelaide Place frontage of the car park and was undertaken by a single trench excavated mechanically, which was aligned north-south. This trench cut across the eastern end of the footprint of the proposed new development. The proposed development lay over the extended line of the portico or covered walkway of the temple precinct of Roman Canterbury, as well as Roman Watling Street cossing the evaluation area; there was also a fifth-century multiple burial in the vicinity, discovered in 1980.

The results of the evaluation were as follows: the only Roman remains identified during the evaluation were the rammed gravel metallings of Roman Watling Street. These were seen in the sides of a fourteenth-century rubbish pit, which was excavated at the base of the evaluation trench. The surface of the street was located at 2.95m below the existing ground surface, but its full depth was not determined.

The road metalling was overlain by a layer of dark loam, which had accumulated during the late Roman and early post-Roman period (possibly a period of abandonment).

Allen, T. & Bennett, P., 1996, Adelaide Place (Article in serial). SKE30799.