Archaeologists warn Exeter Mary Arches car park flats could ‘wipe out’ Roman relics

Building a giant block of apartments on the site of an Exeter car park risks obliterating relics of Roman history, city councillors have been warned.

In January developers drawing up a scheme for nearly 300 ‘co-living’ apartments on the site of the Mary Arches multi-storey car park were asked to go back to the drawing board after councillors raised concerns over the scale and design of their plans.

The council wants to get rid of the car park, saying it is obsolete and costs too much to run. Instead, it wants to see the site being used to help address Exeter’s housing shortage. A co-living block of 300 small apartments with shared communal facilities is the council’s preferred use for the site.

But the Devon Archaeological Society says the project will jeopardise important Roman history.

The city was known to the Romans as Isca Dumnoniorum, and a fortress was established there around AD 55. The city was a civic capital for the area and in the 2nd century its defensive walls were constructed.

The Romans withdrew from the city in the early 5th century. The city walls are the most prominent relics which are still visible, and recent building work in the High Street unearthed Roman pottery and human remains.

Society vice-president Dr Stuart Blaylock has written to the council warning it to take care.

His letter says the proposed flats are unsuitable for the site in terms of design, mass and impact on the townscape and the Exeter skyline.

He also says the co-living accommodation is ‘wholly unsatisfactory’ for permanent occupation.

The letter goes on: “This site represents one of the largest areas of relatively undisturbed Roman archaeology in Exeter, and excavations in other parts of nearby North Street, Mary

Arches Street and Bartholomew Street have all demonstrated exceptional survival of archaeological levels representing Exeter’s Roman military and civil phases and its mediaeval history.

“This is a very important site and the impact of this proposal would be to wipe out all archaeological traces within the development area.”

The society is calling for ‘comprehensive and competent’ excavations to be carried out before any building takes place.

The letter concludes: “We cannot see that the proposed treatment of the site’s archaeology, either by the developers or by yourselves, reflects this importance.”