North-South Roman Street between Insulas 17a &17b.

Successive layers of Road metalling were recorded during a watching brief at Freda Gunton Lodge, Balkerne Gardens, in 1995.<1>

A watching brief was held for phase 1 of the redevelopment at the Balkerne gardens and recorded a Roman north-south street and foundations.<2>
A watching brief was held during phase 2 of the redevelopment of the Balkerne Gardens. the north-south street between Insula 17a and 17b was again uncovered.<2>

Traces of a north-south military street (See MCC346) belonging to the Legionary Fortress were discovered by trenching at the eastern edge of the Gilberd School Site in 1984-5. This street continued in use up to the time of the Boudican destruction AD 60/1 at which point there was a 4m wide strip between the street and the frontage of MCC350 (CAT Building 134) which may have formed a footway.

The street was re-metalled after the Boudican destruction although this did not occur until well after 60/1 AD as a coin of Nero (AD 64-8) lay on the earlier gravel surface. A dump layer containing a coin of Vespasian (AD 71) adjacent to the west side of the street was sealed by a stone-and-mortar foundation reinforced with piles which may have been meant to separate the street from a footway on its western side (see MCC357).

The latest dating evidence for the street came from a coin of Constantius II (AD 330-1) which was recovered from the streets metalled surface indicating its use during the second quarter of the 4th century.<3>