Monument record MCC8399 - Colchester - Town Walls, tower

Summary

Hull's site 37.

Location

Grid reference TL 9988 2554 (point)
Map sheet TL92NE
Non Parish Area COLCHESTER, COLCHESTER, ESSEX

Map

Type and Period (4)

Full Description

Hull's site 37. Length of wall at the N end of Castle PArk, on the E side of this section there was a tower (no.6) destroyed in 1853, the mark of which can still be seen (photo in this source) on the face of the wall. Account of damage in 1853 in wire's diary when the remains of the tower were exposed by the cutting of a trenhch for a footpath at the bottom of Cheaping Field (= Sheepshead Field). There is an account in Duncan (source 3) on the removal of the rampart behind the wall on this occasion which notes that "this rampart was not of earth thrown up by military foresight but consisted of the ruins of buildings of burnt and charred wood, tile and stonework, and all kinds of Roman domestic utensils". THe inner face of the wall was cleared to the end of the old meadow (to the E) and the finds included large piececs of Purbeck marble, hundreds of pieces of samian, and a long row of red tessserae. "So continuous was the layer of red tesserae that it formed the base upon which the ruins rested and gave the impression that the way by the wall was formerly paved." The tower was destroyed by the formation of a path. It was 12ft high, extending 13ft out into the town and 19'2" long - it did not project without the wall; the layers of tile did not pass through the wall but faced the sides. <1> <2> <3> Account in TEAS notes the measurements as 19.5ft by 6.5ft. <4>

Sources/Archives (4)

  • <1> DESC TEXT: Hull, MR. 1958. Roman Colchester. pp35-6.
  • <2> DESC TEXT: Wire, W. 1853. Wire Diary. 22 Mar.
  • <3> DESC TEXT: Duncan, PM. 1858. A survey of the walls of Colchester. OS, Vol 1, 1ff.
  • <4> DESC TEXT: Trans Essex Archaeological Soc. unknown. Trans Essex Archaeol Soc. Vol 9, p.124.

Finds (2)

Protected Status/Designation

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (1)

Record last edited

Nov 3 2015 11:41AM

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