Chester Roman Amphitheatre: 15 Facts (Dates, Size and Finds)

Where it stood

It sits just outside the fortress wall, at the south-east corner. English Heritage places it immediately beyond the Roman defensive line, on the ground that would later become Little St John Street. The position matters: the amphitheatre was for the legion first and the town second. Our map of Roman Chester shows where it is in relation to the gates.
Only about two-fifths of the oval is uncovered. The rest lies unexcavated under buildings to the south, behind the brick wall you see from the arena floor. There is a level path round the edge and steps lead down into the arena.

How it was built

Construction began in the late first century AD. It went up soon after Deva itself, within a decade or so of the fortress being founded in the mid 70s.
The outer wall was about 2.7 metres thick. English Heritage gives nine feet (2.7 metres), which is substantial for a building meant to hold up tiered seating.
The arena was sunk more than a metre below the Roman ground. That is why, when you look down at the sand floor today, you are below the Roman street level outside the walls.
There were two stone amphitheatres on the site, one over the other. The old textbook story was a wooden amphitheatre followed by a stone one; the 2004 to 2006 excavation showed instead two successive stone buildings.
The first had Pompeii-style stairs on the outer wall; the second had vaulted stairways. chester.com’s overview explains that visitors reached the upper tier of the first amphitheatre by stairs climbing the back of the outer wall, as at Pompeii, and that the later rebuild used vaulted stairways instead.

Who used it, and how big a crowd

It was both a theatre and a parade ground. English Heritage describes it as having been used for entertainment and for practising troop manoeuvres and weapon training. An amphitheatre next to a legionary fortress did more than one job.
Capacity estimates run from about 7,000 to 12,000. That is a real range, not a disagreement to be hidden: different phases of the seating give different totals, and we do not have a plan of every row. Either way, it fitted most of the Twentieth Legion with room for the town.
Shows probably included gladiators, but Chester’s evidence is suggestive, not conclusive. Arena sports in Roman Britain are known to have included gladiatorial combat and animal fights. The surviving Chester finds point in that direction without proving a particular bout. We say so plainly rather than tell the story as fact.
A shrine to Nemesis opened straight onto the sand. Inside the arena, to the left of the north entrance, a small room held an altar dedicated to Nemesis, the goddess thought to decide the fate of the performers. Most amphitheatres had such shrines outside the arena, so Chester’s position is unusual.

Use, decline and re-use

It was derelict by the 120s AD. English Heritage records that by then it was being used as a rubbish dump, around the time much of the Twentieth Legion went north to help build Hadrian’s Wall.
It came back into use around AD 275. New paving was laid in the arena and the Nemesis shrine was refurbished. The amphitheatre then functioned for roughly another seventy-five years.
It was abandoned around AD 350. After that its stone was quarried for medieval buildings and houses were built over it, which is why so much of the oval was lost from view and from memory.

Discovery and finds

Rediscovered in 1929 and finds now in the Grosvenor Museum. Most of the northern half was dug between the 1930s and the 1960s. The 2004 to 2006 excavation was called the largest archaeological dig in Britain at the time, and chester.com notes that finds from it are displayed at the Grosvenor Museum. For the detail of what you can see on site today, see our Chester Roman Amphitheatre visitor guide.

Making a morning of it

The amphitheatre pairs naturally with the Roman Gardens, which run from its southern edge down to the Dee, and with the Roman stretch of the city walls a few minutes to the north. Climb onto the walls at Newgate first for a view down into the arena, and then follow the free self-guided walk round the fortress. If you have time for one museum, the Grosvenor is the one with the amphitheatre finds.

Questions people ask

When was Chester Roman Amphitheatre built?

In the late first century AD, just after the legionary fortress of Deva was founded. English Heritage dates the first stone amphitheatre to that period and places it immediately outside the south-east corner of the fortress.

How many people did Chester amphitheatre hold?

Nobody knows exactly. The published estimates run from about 7,000 to 12,000, depending on which phase of the seating is meant and how closely the Romans packed the tiers. It was large enough for the Twentieth Legion and a good part of the town.

Did gladiators fight at Chester?

Probably yes, among other shows. The amphitheatre was used for both entertainment and military training, and arena shows in Roman Britain are known to have included gladiatorial combat and animal fights. The Chester evidence is suggestive rather than conclusive, so we say so.

When was Chester Roman Amphitheatre discovered?

It was rediscovered in 1929. The northern half was dug between the 1930s and the 1960s, and a major excavation by Chester City Council and English Heritage in 2004 to 2006 changed what archaeologists thought about how it had been built.

Is Chester the largest Roman amphitheatre in Britain?

It is the largest known Roman military amphitheatre in Britain, and it is usually described as the largest Roman amphitheatre yet found in the country. A different kind of arena, London's amphitheatre under the Guildhall, survives in a less complete state.

Is Chester Roman Amphitheatre free to visit?

Yes. The site is open every day of the year in daylight hours and there is no ticket. The Roman Gardens next door are also free. See our amphitheatre page for parking, access and how to combine it with the other Roman sites in a morning.