Two 5m-long x 1.5m-wide trial-trenches were excavated at Colchester High School, 17 Wellesley Road, Colchester, in advance of the erection of new classrooms (CBC planning application number F/COL/ 05/1705). The site, 17m by 18m in size, was used as a car park and was partly hardcore and partly concrete hardstanding. Natural sand was reached at between 800mm and 900mm in depth.<1> The northern half of Trench 1 was occupied by a large Roman rubbish-pit (F4), approximately 500mm deep and cut into natural sand. The pottery dates the feature to at least the mid 2nd century to mid 3rd century AD. At the southern end of the trench, there were two discrete features, a narrow linear (Roman) cut feature (F1) and a very shallow pit (F5). An inhumation grave was revealed in Trench 2. The sandy backfill had dissolved most of the bone except for one piece of human long bone. However, 14 iron coffin nails were recorded around the edge of the grave cut. A sizeable quantity of Roman pottery was retrieved. The date range for this pottery was at least early-mid 2nd century, but possibly as late as late 3rd or 4th century. A pit was observed in the west-facing section of the trench (F6). This was not observed in plan, probably because its fill was very similar to L3 which sealed it. This type of beaker often occurs in cremation and inhumation burials and it would is reasonable to suggest that F6 cut through a burial. After the Roman period, the site appears to have passed out of use. The site may have been employed to pasture animals or grow crops in the post Roman period. There was no evidence of medieval monastic buildings or burials.