The foundation work for the new building involved the digging of stanchion holes across most of the site. Many of these cut through the remains of a Roman building. The foundations of this building consisted of trenches about 1m deep filled with septaria and mortar. The reconstructed elements of the plan point to an arrangement comonly found elsewhere ie a range of rooms and cross passages flanked by passages or ranges of narrower rooms. The floor of the rear passage was in part at least plain red tesselation whilst other rooms seem to have plain mortar floors. A layer of red painted wall plaster lay at the south end of the building. Other remains have been noted to the south of this building, notably a mosaic found in 1880 to the south-east. Whilst it is conceivible that this mosaic could have lain in the south wing of this building other foundations recorded in the area are widely spaced and positioned such that it is hard to reconsile the known remains with just one building. The alignment and position of the Roman building suggests a street to the east crossing the River Colne on the site of the present bridge. <2><3>