Seven archaeological watching briefs carried out by the Colchester Archaeological Trust at and around Roman Circus House from the period of February 2012 to July 2013. <1> 1. Circus starting gates reconstruction A series of trenches were excavated over the locations of the Roman Circus starting gates. The trenches were excavated to a depth of 250-300mm below modern ground level, stopping in the grey/brown silty sand topsoil above the foundations of the Circus. The bases of the trenches were subsequently covered with plastic sheeting prior to being infilled with concrete to create the foundation pads for replica starting gates. 2. Electricity trench for Roman Circus House Approximately 160m of trenching (at a width of 350mm-400mm and a depth of 700-750mm) was excavated from the west edge of the garden of the Sergeants’ Mess (SM garden) to Roman Circus House. The stratigraphy of the trench varied over this distance. A layer of grey/brown sandy silt buried topsoil was present throughout the trench, but was in places covered by a modern layer of tarmac and crush 400mm thick. From the SM garden up to the Le Cateau Road, the natural subsoil of sand and gravel was encountered at a ever increasing depth (470mm to 650mm), until the Roman Circus House garden, when only topsoil was encountered. Three features were identified in the SM garden. Two of these were post-medieval/modern, but one - a 700mm wide patch of small CBM/rgastone fragments F3 (possibly a path) - could be Roman. 3. Postholes for the hoarding surrounding the former Sergeants’ Mess A series of small postholes approximately 200mm square and 300-400mm deep were examined prior to erection of a hoarding in the SM garden. They were cut into grey/brown, sandy silt topsoil. No archaeology was encountered. 4. Bat hibernaculum foundations A foundation 13m long x 5m wide was dug under archaeological supervision to the north-west of the former Sergeants’ Mess. 300mm of tarmac and crush was dug through before a layer of topsoil 500mm thick was uncovered. Below this the trench cut into the natural orange sand and gravel for 1200mm before it was bottomed. Nothing of archaeological interest was exposed. 5. Postholes for gates into SM garden Four postholes were dug for the placement of two new gates allowing entrance into the SM garden. They were 300mm square and 550-600mm deep, and cut into the topsoil of grey/brown sandy silt. No archaeology was observed or finds recovered. 6. Archive store foundations The square footings for a one story archive store were excavated to the north-west of Roman Circus House. The footings were excavated to a depth of between 1m and 1.5m below modern ground level. They cut through a modern layer of tarmac and crush 100mm-120mm thick, then a mid/dark brown sandysilt buried topsoil 890mm- 910mm thick, before natural gravely orange sand. The pits for two soakaways (1.5m deep) and pipe runs leading into them (600mm deep) were also monitored. Two archaeological features were observed during monitoring - a possible linear and a possible pit, both containing Roman pottery. 7. Water trench for Roman Circus House Approximately 57m of trenching (at a width of 350mm-400mm and a depth of 750-800mm) was excavated north-west of Roman Circus House. The trench was cut through a topsoil of dark brown sandy silt (sometimes covered by tarmac and crush 120-150mm thick). Natural sand or gravel was not observed. Numerous modern services were encountered, but no features of archaeological interest.