Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Galliford Try Parnerships to undertake a programme of archaeological work, comprising an initial evaluation through trial trenching (20 trenches each c.30m x 1.8m, 3% sample) of a 9.7 ha. site, followed by a watching brief during the demolition of four existing buildings (ECC2781), at the former Turner Village Hospital, Mile End, Colchester. The site was proposed for re-development, comprising housing and a primary school for the local education authority (planning consent for the construction of 420 homes and a primary school; 0/COL/02/0563, Condition 7). <1> A sample of pits, ditches and suspected ditches were sectioned. The remaining ditches pits/tree throws, modern features and geological features were mapped and recorded but not excavated. The evaluation produced a small find assemblage the date range of which was Late Iron Age - Early Romano-British to modern, with an emphasis on the Late Iron Age - Romano-British. The south, centre and northwest corner of the site (Trenches 6-13, 18-20) were characterised by a series of ditches and possible small pits, some of which contained late Iron Age and Roman pottery and brick and tiles dating to the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD. The south, northwest and centre of the Site (Trenches 6-13 and 18-20) was characterised by a series of linear features, these were planned and recorded and a number were partly excavated (Ditches: 19, 180 and 225 in Trenches 6 and 7 and Ditches 07, 21, 23, 30 and 33 in Trenches 20 and 19). A number of these features contained Late Iron Age – Early Roman finds in their upper fills (Ditches 07, 19, 21, 25, 71, 75, 83, 99 and 180). The majority of these ditches ran in a northeast-southwest and northwest-southeast direction and probably represent parts of a Late Iron Age – Early Romano-British field system. A number of discrete pit-like features containing Late Iron Age – Early Roman finds were planned and recorded and a number were excavated (17, 37, 55, 115 in Trenches 6, 9, 18 and 19). Feature 17 (Trench 6) was a possible pit, although its edges were difficult to determine and it could equally possibly represent a re-cut of Ditch 180. “Pit” 17 contained the remains of an almost complete, Late Iron Age - Early Romano-British pot which was found to contain burnt animal bone. A number of features (Ditches 10, 27, 53 and 58) contained medieval material. Ditches 10, 53 and 58 contained fragments of medieval roof tile and Ditch 27 (Fill 26) a sherd of medieval orange sandy ware, of 13th or 14th century date, along with a number of residual Roman pottery sherds. Three post-medieval- modern field boundary ditches were uncovered during the evaluation (51, 155/178 and 201) in Trenches 2, 15/17 and 19. Most of the features on site did not contain datable material in their upper fills and are therefore undated. These included a number of ditches, pits, possible quarry pits and a tree throw. A series of large cuts were revealed in the centre of the Site. A number of these features were excavated (09, 15, 63 and 81) and were found to be no more than 0.4m deep. Most of the fills from these features contained no datable material although 08, in Trench 18 produced late Iron Age – Early Romano-British material. The origin and function of these features could not be determined although quarry pits and remains of ridge and furrows was suggested. Several characteristically shaped undated tree-throws were also recorded in the southeast corner of the Site (Trenches 8 and 15 contexts 99 and 157 respectively). Palaeo-environmental evidence taken from the Late Iron Age-Early Romano-British features excavated at the northern edges of the site produced plant remains, including barley and emmer wheat, suggesting a proximity to settlement and general domestic activities. Fragmentary evidence for medieval activity, in the form of pottery sherds and roof tile fragments were found in the south of the site, from ditches in Trenches 11, 13 and 18.