Mortared tiles forming part of what is believed to be a Roman building were exposed and removed by contractors (out of a new sewer-trench on the northern boundary of the site) after the watching brief at Colchester Institute (2001) had finished. No other finds were retrieved from this feature. If it is a building and not Roman drain, then this is the first Roman structure to be found on the site. As the feature was not seen by an archaeologist, it is not known definitely in which direction it runs nor its width or exact depth. The feature is too far south to be part of the temple at St Helena School.<1>

The report (p.6) records, 'Apparently the bricks had not been loose but had been packed together as a wall and had been difficult to remove with the bucket. He reported that there was approximately 500mm of soil above the wall. Eleven large flat pieces of Roman brick/tile had been set aside and were retrieved by CAT. The thickness of each brick is 37mm. Although there were no complete bricks, it was possible to work out the length (420mm) and width (370mm) of two large pieces. A large amount of opus signinum mortar was still attached to the bricks. The feature was not seen by CAT staff but presumably what was uncovered was a mortared wall or foundation to a Roman building, running in an approximately east-west direction across the north-south sewer-trench. The alternative interpretation would be a Roman tiled drain (F6).'