In July 1957 the old Essex Telegraph Office, No 38 Head Street was pulled down and work began on new premises for the Eastern Electricity Board. Much of the site was already spoiled by old cellars, and even when clear of these the soil had been disturbed in modern times. From it came very little. Only one small portion of the middle of the site was comparatively undisturbed. Here a large trench cut E-W went through (this was witnessed by H.C. Calver) a Roman wall 3ft thick, made of septaria and running N-S. When Rex Hull visited the site the trench was completely shuttered, and at a depth of 5-6ft the bottom was in the Claudian level and just touching the sand. Later this trench was filled in, and another was cut along the south face of No 36 (Messrs Baker & Fairhead). When Hull saw this on July 30th it was nearly 4ft deep. The upper 24" of this had been removed over the site of 38, and corresponded to the depth of the foundation of No 36. The other 20" was oily black soil in which appeared a wall-trench, full of mortar-rubble and block of septaria , with some black soil intermixed in places. It was 5ft 6" wide between its vertical sides. Calver had seen it the previous day and told Hull that it was the same wall as before, speaking as if he had seen a masonry wall 3ft thick. There was no such thing there when Hull looked. The east face of this wall-trench was 25ft from the east building face of Head Street. The black soil had accumulated against the wall (or the wall had been cut into it) so should be Roman. From the trench a spread of mortar-rubble lay on top of the black soil thickening as the latter sloped down somewhat to the east. From the black soil in the foundation trench came the base of a beaker of red ware with polished black surface. This could be fourth century. <1>