During the excavations at the Gilberd School site in 1984-5, a substantial timber-framed building (CAT Building 133) was discovered. The building had been constructed on a terrace dug through the central part of Barrack Block 1 (MCC332) during the early years of the Roman colonia. Terracing had removed 0.5-1.0m of deposits and provided a flat site approximately level with a newly laid street to the north (MCC349).

Traces of an initial construction phase were indicated by deposits beneath the earliest floor make-up for rooms 1-7 and 4, including a probable hearth, burnt patches and a thin occupation spread (ELM38).

The original structure was 12.5m wide and at least 18.75m long and may have extended beyond the south section of the excavation for a further 5.5m. Most of the timber-framed walls were supported by piles, the holes of which contained traces of decayed timber surviving in situ. Wall slots were also employed and traces of charred timber ground plates was recorded in some of the slots. Little survived of the superstructure of the walls although fragments of daub blocks were recovered and the destruction debris backfilling the terrace contained large quantities of burnt daub. The large number of tile fragments from the site suggested that the roof was tiled. There was some evidence to suggest the building had a veranda or colonnade along its northern frontage.

The building was divided into two parallel rows of rooms of different widths which were separated by internal walls either set within slots or of stake-and-wattle as evidenced by rows of stake holes. The floors were made from sandy clay and were sealed by thin occupation layers scorched by fire in AD 60/1. Room 2 contained a large north-south gully which had a timber cover. Room 5 also had a large gully which extended out of the west side of the building and probably originally contained a timber drain.

The building was destroyed in AD 60/61, after which the site was cleared.<1>