Earliest records of the site are in Wire's Diary, Nov 1845 to Mar 1847 there is also a sketch plan in the album Wire was informed that a mosaic pavement was found 20 years earlier but covered up again. 1847 it was again coevered and undisturbed until 1906 when it was removed to the Museum. In 1922 a trench was cut near the E end of the garden (sketch plan in Laver's Diary); there are references to the finding of 2 walls in this work, said to be shown on the plan but they do not appear. Various entries in Wire's Diary record in Mr Bryant's garden a Roman tessellated pavement, several fragments of fresco house wall, fragments of roof tile, brass of Postumus said to have come from this garden, flagon, brass coin of Licinius. Entry in Mar 1847 - 'another tessellated pavement was discovered ..... between nos 17 and 18 running the whole length of the passage .... It is all red .... probably connected with those found earlier. Of this Laver wrote that it 'appears to extend from the street into and under a large part of the garden of the adjoining house (nos 17 and 18) ... A short distcnace from the back door of the passage .. the red pavement was found to be the border surrounding a very ornamental pavement .... now mostly destroyed. The complete design was reconstructed from the fragment removed to the museum in 1906 and from photos takken when more of the pavement was uncovered in the garden of no.17 (plate in source 1)(This is Hull's pavement B). Of the work carried out in 1906 Laver notes 'further excavations in the garden of No 18 brought to light more of the pavements' including another ornamental one 14ft square, which was covered up again - Pavement A. Sketch plan in source 1 shows positions of the pavements. The garden was again explored by Laver in 1925. Pavement A uncovered and trenches extended to the E, and continuation of these walls and floors southwards explored to some extent but no records for either. Pavement A removed to the Museum in 1925 - description in source 1. It lay at a depth of 4.5ft, on a bed of red concrete which overlay an earlier floor of red concrete, above yellow sand which contained fragments of Gallo-Belgic pottery. Pplans by Laver work was largely superficial, therefore the only useful information is that remains of walls and floors are present and that they belong to a series of periods. One piece of walling was exceptionally large for a private building in Colchester. Finds collected by Laver included fragements of painted wall plaster from the continuation of these remains under the garden of no.17, three fragments of maarble veneer. List of pottery and other remains form below the pavement in Museum files - it runs from Claudian forms to colour coated ware. Unstratified finds include a bone comb (?Saxon), two large lumps of burnt clay (probably from clay building blocks), animal bones, oyster shells. COins included 2, worn, of Vespasian, one well preserved of Domitian and an antoninianus of Elagabalus. <1> <2> <3> <8> Other refs given in sourec 1. <4> - <7> mosaics and tessellated pavements found at various dates E of North Hill in the garden of No 18 (formerly No 16), Mr Bryanys, S of Nunns Cut, also adjoining this on the SW under the passageay between Nos.17 and 18.
In 1977 a contractors trench for a foundation for an extension at the rear of the house led to the uncovering of parts of three pavements, including the black and white mosaic previously uncovered and two further pavements of plain red tesserae; too little was uncovered to determine whether they were parts of rooms or passages.<10>-<12>