An archaeological watching brief carried out by the Colchester Archaeological Trust during the construction of an extension to the rear of 17 West lodge Road, Colchester. <1> Foundation trenches were excavated to a depth of c.1m using a tracked excavator equipped with either a 450mm or 600mm wide bucket. Numerous services were encountered both above and below the base of the trenches. Approximately 400-500mm of turf and dark grey/brown sandy-silt topsoil (L1) overlaid a lighter brown silty-sand with abundant angular and round stones (L2). The orange/red natural sand and gravel (L3) with frequent angular and round stones was encountered at a depth of 700mm below modern ground level. A pit for a soakaway was excavated to the south-east of the new extension. The pit was 1.35m deep and the natural sand and gravel (L3) was not reached until a depth of 1.1m below modern ground level due to the deposition of topsoil over this area during the construction of the adjacent swimming pool. The pipe linking the building to the soakaway was excavated into the topsoil at a depth of 300mm deep near the new building and 700mm deep in the area of the soakaway. The excavation of a trench for the installation for new services to the north of the existing house was also monitored. Numerous services were encountered and the ground throughout the trench appeared to have been previously excavated. A disturbed Roman urned cremation burial was discovered during the groundworks. The lower part of a jar or bowl (find no. 2) which associated with a piece of cremated bone (presumed to be human). These finds are likely to represent a disturbed cremation, probably of mid 1st- to 2nd-century date. Although most of the pottery breaks are recent (the base and wall sherds join together), the presence of an old break and the absence of the other pieces suggest that the burial had already been disturbed. A second group of sherds, possible ‘egg-shell’ ware pottery fragments, was located in a charcoal rich cut at a depth of 600mm below modern ground level. Roman pottery fragments were also recovered from the soil layers L1 & L2.