Norman bailey rampart surrounding Colchester Castle.

Eight trenches were dug by contractors during renovation of the Castle Inn in 1985. A watching brief was held during the operation, the site being visited on three separate occasions. Mark Davies from Colchester Museums is reported to have observed a robber trench which he took to be the precinct wall and noted that the sand was very high up on the north side, though this may have been the rampart.<1>

Trenches were dug into the north side of the rampart during excavations in 1950 (ECC932). The Norman bank was found to have been built over structural remains including walls of the Roman Temple Precinct (MCC1544). These remains were covered by a thick level of debris containing occupation material and broken bricks and tile. It was on a layer of chalk which sealed these remains, that the rampart was built. The excavations also showed that the Norman bank had been added to in later medieval times.<2><5>

In September 1964, demolition of 5 Maidenburgh Street prior to use of the site as a car park made an area of some 38m x 10m available for excavation, which was undertaken for 6 weeks in September - October 1964 under the direction of B.R.K. Niblett (nee Dunnett) for the Colchester Excavation Committee. Two trenches were cut across the line of the Norman rampart which crossed the east end of the site. Beneath 0.6m of modern rubble and garden soil a series of tips of sand, gravel and Roman tile and mortar was encountered. The maximum thickness of the deposit was 0.6m which was felt to represent the remnant of the rampart. Immediately in front of the rampart on the edge of the bailey ditch was an inhumation burial, possibly of Saxon date. Several loose bones indicated the possibility of other burials in the area. The eastern lip of the Norman bailey ditch was also located, immediately in front of the rampart.<2>

In 1969 a warehouse at the South end of Ryegate road was demolished prior to the construction of a new Methodist Church. Permission was obtained for four trenches to be excavated to a depth of 2m, located so as not to affect the foundations. This limitation to the area excavated meant that only 'scattered glimpses' of the underlying remains could be obtained. The east (inner) lip of the bailey trench was revealed as was the western edge. Part of the bailey rampart was also excavated and the foundations of a north-south Tudor brick wall were discovered cut into the rampart. The lower levels of the rampart remained intact to a depth of up to 1m. Beneath the rampart was a layer of black humic soil cut by a straight-sided feature which resembled a small robber trench. A mid-eighteenth century rubbish pit was also located.<3>