F1 urned cremation burial.<1>
Description: The cremation urn was set at a slight angle in a small circular pit, which survived c.400mm across x 180mm deep. The top of the urn lay c.850mm below the modern ground level. Several sherds from the urn were displaced during machining. The urn was fragmented in antiquity and could not be lifted intact. The cremated bone was excavated from the urn on site. A few potsherds from vessels other than the urn were recovered from the pitfill. Small fragments of charcoal were sparsely spread through the fills of the pit and the urn. The western edge of F1 cut an earlier pit (F5).
A total of 300g was recovered from an adult of indeterminate sex.
Burial goods: The cremated human bone was contained in a large jar (F1.1). Its form is dated mid 1st-mid/late 2nd century.
Date: ?2nd century or later

F2 ?unurned cremation burial
This poorly-preserved burial consisted of a small pit, which measured c.500mm across x 220mm deep. It extended out from the section at the unction of two of the contractor’s foundation trenches. The top of the pit lay about a metre below the modern ground level. The cremated human bone was concentrated in a layer near the bottom of the pit. Several potsherds, as well as some fragments of cremated bone, were displaced during machining. Many of the finds were recovered from the section.
A small quantity of cremated bone was found attached to the inside of a pottery sherd. A few iron nails were also recovered. It is possible therefore that some or all of the cremated bone was originally housed in an urn (F2.1), that was fragmented by later activity, and/or in a wooden box. Small fragments of charcoal were sparsely spread through the fill of the pit.
A total of 680g was recovered from an adult of indeterminate sex.
Burial goods: Sherds from two pottery vessels were recovered. A factory lamp (F2.3) came from the section in the south-western part of F2. The lamp was largely intact, although the central disc was missing. It was not possible to record in detail how the lamp lay in the ground. There were some pottery sherds nearby, but it was unclear whether these sherds ‘shielded’ the lamp. Five iron fragments, including at least two intact nails, were also found, as well as a probable Roman brick/tile fragment.
Date: mid/late 1st-early 2nd century

F3 inhumation burial
Description: Part of an inhumation burial was exposed during machine-digging of the foundation trench for the east wall of the proposed building. The inhumation burial was aligned roughly SW to NE. The backfill of F3 was reached at just over 1m below the modern ground level. Only the lower limb bones were uncovered, c.1.1m below the modern ground level. Their orientation indicated that the head lay at the south-western end of the grave. The bottom of the grave was reached at c.1.2m below the modern ground level. The grave cut was roughly 900mm wide. A small quantity of iron nails and nail fragments was recovered. These presumably derived from a nailed wooden coffin, although no coffin stain was observed. The burial was cut by a modern north-south pipe trench, which extended out by up to 150mm from under the east section of the foundation trench.
Inhumated human bone: Only badly abraded lower limb bones were recovered (left and right femurs, tibias and fibulas; 686g). The bone was from an adult, probably male.
Residual finds: A couple of Roman pottery sherds were recovered from F3.
Date: ?later Roman

As well as the different types of burial recorded at 56 Creffield Road, there were also differences in the dates of the burials. The lamp (F2.3) and pots (F2.1 & F2.2) indicated that cremation burial F2 probably dated to the late 1st or early 2nd century. Many of the previous finds from the western cemetery area were of 1st- and 2nd-century date, so F2 is consistent with these.
The urned cremation burial F1 was not as closely datable as F2, but was probably later in date. Although the urn (F1.1) was dated from the mid 1st to the mid/late 2nd century, several later sherds were found in F1, and in F5, which was cut by F1. These suggest that F1 dated to the later 2nd or 3rd century. Cremation burials of later Roman date are fairly common in some of Colchester’s southern cemetery areas, but they are less well-known in the western cemetery area.
No closely dated finds were recovered from the inhumation burial F3. It was possibly a later Roman, pagan grave based on its alignment.<2>

The burials at 56 Creffield Road lay close to, and on the east side of, the projected line of a Roman road, aligned NE to SW, towards Gosbecks; no evidence of the road was discovered in the current investigation.