Site Event/Activity record ECC3602 - A watching brief at Kingswode Hoe School, Sussex Road, Colchester, 2010

Location

Location Kingswode Hoe School, Sussex Road, Colchester
Grid reference Centred TL 983 252 (37m by 39m)
Map sheet TL92NE
County ESSEX
Non Parish Area COLCHESTER, COLCHESTER, ESSEX

Technique(s)

Organisation

Colchester Archaeological Trust Ltd

Date

August to September 2010

Map

Description

Colchester Archaeological Trust undertook archaeological monitoring in August and September 2010 at Kingswode Hoe School during the installation of three temporary classrooms at the rear of the school.<1> The site work involved the continuous monitoring of all groundworks associated with the relocation of three classroom units from the front of the school to the rear. All excavations were undertaken using a mechanical excavator equipped with a toothless bucket. 52 square pits between 0.7m and 1.1m in size were excavated to a depth of between 0.6m and 0.8m. These were subsequently filled with concrete and formed foundations/piers on which the relocatable classrooms were placed. The works for the sewage pumping station comprised a pit 2m² in size and c.2m in depth. The pumping station was connected to all three relocatables and the main building to the east by pipes laid in a 600mm deep trench excavated with a 400mm wide bucket. The overall length of the pipe trenches was 56m. With the exception of the eastern 10m of the pipe trench, the excavations were through a medium grey/brown sandy-silt topsoil with a thin layer of turf (L1, c.140mm deep). Modern artefacts were noted in the topsoil, and some of the unstratified (U/S) finds recovered most likely originate from this layer. A lighter, slightly orange, brown sandy loam subsoil containing few inclusions was stratified beneath L1 (L2, c.250mm deep). Beneath L2, the yellow/orange glacial sands and gravels (L3) began at a depth of c.400mm below modern ground level (L3). However, the upper 200-300mm of L3 was often silty and brownish in colour which is interpreted as either a cover loam or the disturbed surface of the natural sand. Five archaeological features were identified during the monitoring. Each had a distinguishably darker grey/brown sandy silt fill than L2. A post-hole (F1), a small pit (F3), two shallow linears (F2 and F4) and a large pit spanning two of the pads (F5), were recorded. Four of the features contained post-medieval/modern brick and/or peg-tile fragments (F1, F2, F4 and F5). These were not retained. The small pit F3 contained no dating evidence but appeared to be cut through the topsoil and, therefore, is assumed to be modern. Kingswode Hoe was originally a Victorian suburban house set in its own grounds (Kingswode House, built 1888). It was converted to a school in the 1950’s. It is probable that the features identified are associated with landscape/garden features in the grounds of the Victorian house.

Sources/Archives (1)

  • <1> Watching Brief Report: Wightman, Adam (CAT). 2010. Watching brief at Kingswode Hoe School, Sussex Road, Colchester, Essex. CAT Report 578.

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Record last edited

Feb 21 2018 8:43AM

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