 AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL dig in a Cheshire hamlet has emerged as one of Britain's most important excavations ever. Archaeologists working in Poulton, south of Chester, have discovered evidence of human activity dating back 9,000 years. They have unearthed five Bronze Age burial mounds, two Roman buildings and a medieval chapel and cemetery. The series of remarkable discoveries was made during excavations to find the lost Abbey of Poulton which once stood on the site. Archaeologist Mike Emery has run the dig, on farmland bordering the Duke of Westminster's Eaton estate, for the past eight years. Each summer, he and a team of volunteers work on the field and first unearthed evidence of medieval occupation, then Roman, and in the past year a prehistoric community. Mr Emery, who works alongside a team of 20 students from Liverpool and Nottingham Universities, said: "Because of weather conditions, we have probably only spent about 11 months in total actually on the dig. But the discoveries we have made in that short time are remarkable. "Everybody knows that Chester was an important part of the Roman empire, but now we know there were thriving communities here many thousands of years before the city was settled." The history and origin of the unearthed chapel are scarcely known, but it probably had a close connection with the last Cistercian abbey of Poulton. Although the abbey was removed in the 13th century, the Cistercians continued to dominate and shape the landscape around Chester until dissolution in 1534.. It has now been confirmed that at least two Roman buildings exist, one of which contained numerous brooches and coins. The building even boasted windows fitted with glass, meaning it was probably an important temple or a villa belonging to a high ranking officer of the Roman occupation force. The 12th-century abbey has not yet been traced but Mr Emery, brother of Hollywood actors Ralf and Joseph Fiennes, believes its remains lie in neighbouring land and is seeking permission to excavate the area. The abbey was built by the Cistercian order of monks, and lasted only 50 years until the monastery was moved to Staffordshire and the site was converted into a monastic estate. | 
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