Colchester Archaeological Trust

CAT Report 662: summary

An archaeological evaluation on the site of a proposed performing arts block, Colchester Royal Grammar School, 6 Lexden Road, Colchester, Essex - August 2012
by Adam Wightman (with contributions from S Benfield)

Date report completed: August 2012
Location: Colchester Royal Grammar School, 6 Lexden Road, Colchester, Essex
Map reference(s): TL 9868 2484 (c)
File size: 1,361 kb
Project type: Evaluation
Significance of the results: *
Keywords: Roman, road, previous archaeological excavations

Summary. Two evaluation trenches were excavated at the Colchester Royal Grammar School in August 2012, prior to the construction of a new performing arts block. A north-west south-east orientated Roman road was uncovered at a depth of between 1.3m and 1.6m below modern ground level. The considerable depth of the Roman contexts in this area is attributed to the deposition of additional topsoil on the site within the past 80 years. The Roman road was first identified by A F Hall in the 1930s, with further excavations taking place on the site of the road in the 1950s. Two backfilled archaeological trenches from the 1950’s excavations were identified. One of these trenches contained a dense concentration of Roman pottery, which was presumably discarded into the trench with the backfill. A large quantity of Roman-period finds was recovered during the evaluation. One find of particular interest is a piece of worked fossiliferous limestone, which might be from Purbeck in Dorset and is from the outside of a building or monument, possibly a Roman tomb.