A ground investigation was carried out on a site off Priory Street, Colchester where it was proposed to construct retail housing. Three boreholes were sunk by light cable percussive drilling methods and revealed between 2.3m and 2.7m of clay fill deposits overlying a loam of silty sandy clay. This loam in turn overlaid (locally absent) glacial sand and gravel. London clay deposits were then encountered at between 4.7m and 6.8m below ground level down to the 15m investigated. The fill deposit contained gravel, brick and clay pot fragments. In Borehole 2 there was a 0.8m thick layer of compact granular fill overlying the clay fill. Standing water levels of between 1.3m and 2.8m below ground level were recorded.<1>