During excavations at the Cups Hotel site in 1973 (ECC346) the remains of a late Roman building were examined (Colchester Archaeological Trust Building 154). A massive construction trench containing an east-west foundation of septaria and mortar was discovered which continued beyond the main area of excavation and branched southwards. In the southern part of the construction trench was a shallow basement or cellar which had a floor of plain opus signinum. This ceased to be used some time after c.350 and gradually filled up with an accumulation of sandy clay floors interspersed with occupation and charcoal layers containing large quantities of late Roman material including what was possibly part of a dispersed coin hoard and a large number of window glass fragments (see FND53).
A large quantity of make up was deposited north of the foundation to compensate for the downwards slope of the ground. The base of a tile structure lay on top of the make-up, its purpose unclear. The rest of the northern end of the site was difficult to interpret due to damage caused by post-Roman pit digging although north of the foundation there appeared to have been a garden or area of cultivation.<1> (ELM287 and ELM505, a Roman pavement and wall respectively, may have belonged to this building or its predecessor MON639).