Monument record MCC1260 - Roman building, 26 North Station Road, Colchester

Summary

Roman building discovered during excavations along North Station Road in 1965 and 1976.

Location

Grid reference TL 99327 25797 (point)
Map sheet TL92NE
County ESSEX
Non Parish Area COLCHESTER, COLCHESTER, ESSEX

Map

Type and Period (2)

Full Description

A substantial masonry courtyard house situated to the north of the Roman towns north gate and the River Colne.

During excavations at 26 North Station Road in 1965, parts of the house were examined. The remains of two east - west walls, ten feet apart and built of septaria and mortar were found as was a plain red tessellated pavement lying on a clay make-up layer which 'appears to have lain in a corridor, presumably serving rooms to the east, now beneath the modern pavement'. A gravel surface was also found further to the west which was assumed to be part of an open courtyard. The gravel had been laid on a make-up layer of clay which lay directly on natural subsoil.<1>

The site of the house was redeveloped in 1976 when foundation work for a new building was subject to a watching brief. Many of the stanchion holes dug across the site cut through the remains of the Roman house the foundations of which consisted of trenches 1.0m deep and filled with septaria and mortar. From the remains which were revealed it was possible to reconstruct the plan of part of the building which pointed to an arrangement of rooms 'which is commonly found elsewhere, i.e. a range of two rooms and a cross passage flanked by passages of narrow ranges of rooms on each side. The floor of the western passage was probably of plain red tessellation whilst the two rooms appeared to have had plain mortar floors. A layer of painted wall plaster was found at the south end of the building.<2>

There are many other remains known from the immediate proximity including a mosaic pavement (see MCC1052) and tessellated pavement (ECC1053 and MCC1056) and walls (MCC1055, MCC1057, MCC1059) but it is hard to reconcile them all with one single building. Unfortunately it is also difficult to reconcile the plan of the remains found during the 1966 excavation with the plan of those found during the later watching brief.

Sources/Archives (2)

  • <1> Article in serial: Dunnett, B.R.K.. 1971. Excavations in Colchester, 1964-8. Transactions of the Essex Archaeological Society Vol. 3, Part 1. pp.92-94.
  • <2> Monograph: Crummy, Philip. 1992. CAR 6: Excavations at Culver Street, the Gilberd School, and other sites in Colchester 1971-85. 6. pp.346-347.

Finds (0)

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (2)

Record last edited

Jan 23 2017 1:54PM

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