A watching brief was carried out during the digging of test-pits, ground-reduction and excavation of foundations involved in works to demolish and rebuild no's 24 and 25 and to repair the listed building no 26, Mersea Road (CBC planning application F/COL/02/1433). A brick-lined well and four pits of probable post-medieval or modern date were recorded. Peg-tile, animal bone and part of a post-medieval glass bottle were the only finds. The ground appeared to be very disturbed with at least 500mm of post-medieval or modern deposits overlying natural sand. No evidence was recorded of any Roman or Anglo-Saxon burials, although it appears that the ground has previously been lowered and that any such remains may have been destroyed as a result. <1>