Site Event/Activity record ECC3577 - Watching brief at 37 Oaks Drive, Colchester, 2008

Location

Location 37 Oaks Drive, Colchester
Grid reference Centred TL 98 25 (3m by 6m)
Map sheet TL92NE
County ESSEX
Non Parish Area COLCHESTER, COLCHESTER, ESSEX

Technique(s)

Organisation

Colchester Archaeological Trust Ltd

Date

February 2008

Map

Description

A watching brief was undertaken by Colchester Archaeological Trust during the excavation of footing trenches for an extension to the rear of the existing house.<1> Two footing trenches, about 0.5m wide and about 1.6m deep and joining at right-angles, were located to the rear of the house, at the southeast corner. The two footing trenches had been excavated into natural sand at their base. For most of their length the footing trenches had been cut through a large feature (F1) filled with medium-dark brown sandy loam. F1 extended to the west and north at least as far as the existing house. At the west end of the south footing trench the base of F1 approximately coincided with the base of the trench at 1.6 m deep. The south-western edge of F1 was located on the east side of the footing trenches where the natural sand rose up to the base of the garden topsoil. Apart from two pieces of modern brick, which came from disturbed soil at the base of the footing trench and which are intrusive, all of the finds, where datable, are Roman. The most securely stratified finds were excavated from the undisturbed fill of F1 toward the north end of the east footing trench (F1, finds number 2). These secure finds consist of 3 sherds of Roman pottery, one of which is a large sherd datable to the 1st-2nd/3rd century, and one piece of animal bone which cannot be closely dated. The size of the feature F1, the nature of the surrounding natural (sand), and the date of the finds recovered from the fill, suggest that F1 is a Roman sand quarry.

Sources/Archives (1)

  • <1> Watching Brief Report: Benfield, S. (CAT). 2008. Report on a watching brief CAT Report 463. CAT Report 463.

Related Monuments/Buildings (1)

  • ?Roman quarry pit at 37 Oaks drive, Colchester (Element)

Record last edited

Mar 22 2016 10:36AM

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