Seventy-seven test-pits and fourteen boreholes were excavated in September 2000 by contractors for W S Atkins Consultants over the entire 304 ha. PFI site. This was part of a land-quality statement site investigation, the purpose of which was to establish whether the ground had been contaminated and also to locate services. <1> The majority of the finds from the test-pits were post-medieval in date, with a notable lack of medieval artefacts. Roman material was retrieved from eight out of the 58 test-pits monitored. This did not come from any defined features and was mixed in with post-medieval and modern material, indicating that archaeological remains had been disturbed. Fragments of human skull found from Test-pit 13 in Meeanee Barracks are thought to be from an Anglo-Saxon burial, forming part of a Saxon cemetery in the Mersea Road area. Fragments of bone found in the spoil heap from Test-pit 65 on Abbey Field may possibly be human.