Site Event/Activity record ECC3599 - A watching brief in Castle Park, Colchester, 2010

Location

Location Castle Park, Colchester
Grid reference Centred TL 99916 25405 (248m by 276m)
Map sheet TL92NE
County ESSEX
Non Parish Area COLCHESTER, COLCHESTER, ESSEX

Technique(s)

Organisation

Colchester Archaeological Trust Ltd

Date

October 2010

Map

Description

A watching brief was undertaken by Colchester Archaeological Trust in October 2010 during the installation of 7 information/notice boards and 2 finger posts in Castle Park, Colchester.<1> The fills of the post-holes for the signs consisted mainly of dark greyish-brown modern topsoil (L1). Inclusions were sparse and included fragments of Roman andpost-Roman brick and tile, oyster shell, animal bone, stone, and modern pottery and glass. A sherd of Roman pottery was recovered from FP1. In FP2, L1 sealed a gravelled surface (L2). The latter lay at a depth of approximately 550mm below the modern ground level and was at least 150 mm thick. No dating evidence wasrecovered from L2. The only significant archaeological deposit observed during the watching brief was a gravelled surface of probable Roman date in FP2. It is probable that this is the same gravelled surface that was uncovered approximately 11 m to the north-east during a watching brief in 1983 (CAR 6, 371). <2> This was associated with Roman foundations, and was perhaps a courtyard surface. Alternatively the gravelled surface may have belonged to a previously unrecognised Roman street. A small quantity of finds was retained from L1 in the course of the watching brief. Where appropriate these were cleaned, marked and bagged according to context. They included a Roman tessera (21g) from NB6, and a Roman grey ware potsherd (18g) and a fragment of post-Roman peg-tile (11g) from FP1.

Sources/Archives (2)

  • <1> Evaluation Report: Wightman, Adam and Shimmin, Don (CAT). 2011. Two archaeological evaluations by test pitting and an archaeological watching brief in Castle Park, Colchester, Essex. November 2010 - February 2011. CAT Report 575.
  • <2> Monograph: Crummy, Philip. 1992. CAR 6: Excavations at Culver Street, the Gilberd School, and other sites in Colchester 1971-85. 6. CAR 6.

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Record last edited

Apr 19 2016 9:42AM

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