An excavation and watching brief was carried out by Colchester Archaeological Trust on the site of a Roman cemetery at the Garrison sports pitch in Circular Road North, Colchester (Abbey Field). The investigation was prompted by the proposed replacement of the original grassed pitch with an artificial ‘Astroturf’ surface, laid on a deep bed of graded stones. Preparations for the new pitch involved reducing the ground to depths of up to 600mm, as well as trenching for the installation of new floodlighting and drainage. Excavations were undertaken in February and March 2000, followed by a watching brief until May 2000. <1> The existing pitch was gradually stripped by machine using a toothless digging bucket until the engineer’s reduced formation level for the new pitch was reached. Archaeological features revealed at higher levels in the course of the stripping were excavated manually. Generally, features first exposed at the very limit of excavation were not excavated unless they were thought to be vulnerable to damage from works for the new pitch. In total, 72 graves were investigated, part of a mid to late Roman cremation cemetery which was in use until the latter half of the 4th century. The burials fall broadly into three groups: inurned (41 burials in the form of an urn placed in a small pit), with cremation boxes (9 graves), and one cist (F200). There were also 28 burials which could not be classified, too disturbed by post-Roman activity or the conditions of observation were too limited to permit reliable classification; also in this category are three features notable for the unusual nature of their contents. An additional seven features, possibly graves, were noted at the limits of excavation but not examined further. In many instances, the upper part of the grave had been damaged or removed completely by post-Roman to modern activity. Light scatters of charcoal flecks were common components of the grave fills. Two north-south ditch-like features, F58 and F120, may indicate a trackway approximately 8m in width. No metalling was discernible in the exposed area between these features. Adjoining the north-east side of the trackway there was a ditched enclosure, three sides of which were represented by the linear features F45, F57 and F103. Early linear features include the parallel east-west ditches F70 and F111, together with F52 and north-south ditches F69 and F83. None of these linear features were excavated. However, the small number of datable surface finds from F69, F83 and F111 fell within a broad Roman date. The datable material recovered from the unexcavated ditches or gullies F69, F70, F111, F83 and F172 points to a Roman origin, but is too limited to determine whether they represent divisions within the cemetery or belong to an earlier phase of Roman activity. At the eastern edge of the site, excavation revealed an area of cover loam (L23) which had been heavily discoloured by intense heat - possibly the remains of a hearth/pyre. Three structural features were noted in the narrow renches dug by the contractor for floodlight cables in the region to the north-east of the excavation. F208, an east-west trench approximately 80cm wide, was filled with compacted mortar and appeared to bottom out at an overall depth of 60cm. Approximately 1.4m to the south of F208, a group of large mortared stones was partly exposed (F209). The feature continued beyond both sides of the contractor’s trench and appeared to be on a similar east-west orientation to F208, although this is uncertain due to the restricted dimensions of the trench. At a spot approximately 35m to the east of F208, the cable trench revealed a second mortar-filled east-west trench (F210), approximately 80cm in width. F208 and F210 appear to be robber trenches, resulting either from the removal of two foundations on the same alignment or pehaps a single long stretch of wall foundation. The mortared stone F209 is assumed to be an undisturbed foundation,although too little was exposed to permit satisfactory interpretation of this feature. An archaeological evaluation was caried out on the site in 2000 (CAT Report 54). <2>