Colchester Archaeological Trust

CAT Report 846: summary

Archaeological attendance and recording at 30 St Peter's Street, Colchester, Essex: March-May 2015
by Ben Holloway and Howard Brooks (with contributions from Stephen Benfield)

Date report completed: July 2015
Location: 30 St Peter's Street, Colchester, Essex
Map reference(s): TL 9965 2559 (c)
File size: 1,520 kb
Project type: Archaeological attendance and recording
Significance of the results: neg
Keywords: -

Summary. This site is 70m north of the Roman walled town and on the south bank of the River Colne. Two archaeological evaluations on this site in 2009 and 2013 showed that the uppermost horizon is 1.0m-1.1m of accumulated debris resulting from the demolition of the 19th-century silk mill and 20th-century Colnebank House. Under that modern deposit was a layer of river silt, 1.55-1.65m deep, under which were river gravels (ie, at approximately 2.6m below modern ground-level). Given the above results, it was anticipated that the piled construction of the new Premier Inn hotel would not affect any sensitive remains. Monitoring during construction of the piling mat, renewal of drainage, and digging of footings revealed nothing of archaeological significance. A brick wall, undoubtedly part of the silk mill, was seen on the eastern site edge. It sealed river silts containing very small amounts of residual Roman material. At a lower level, river gravels were identified at depths of between 2.1m and 2.5m in the NE and SW corners of the site in drainage intercept manholes.