A watching brief was undertaken by Colchester Archaeological Trust in 1999 during redevelopment of the Old Poultry Market site, on the west side of North Station Road. The redevelopment involved clearance of the existing commercial buildings, followed by construction of eleven new homes on piled foundations. The initial pile-drilling work was subject only to spot inspection with a more intensive watch on the excavation of groundbeam slots and the deeper drain runs. The 1999 watching brief recorded a parallel Roman foundation at the site frontage, along with plots of post-medieval structures.<1> The watching brief followed a trial-trenched evaluation in 1998 (ECC2337).<2>