Colchester Archaeological Trust

CAT Report 1186: summary

Archaeological evaluation at the Essex County Hospital, Lexden Road, Colchester, Essex, CO3 3NB: October 2017
by Laura Pooley (with contributions from Stephen Benfield, Adam Wightman)

Date report completed: December 2017
Location: the Essex County Hospital, Lexden Road, Colchester, Essex, CO3 3NB
Map reference(s): TL 9892 2487 (c)
File size: 3,654 kb
Project type: Archaeological evaluation
Significance of the results: *
Keywords: Roman, pits, ditch

Summary. An archaeological evaluation (one trial-trench) was carried out at the Essex County Hospital, Colchester, Essex in advance of the redevelopment of the site. The hospital is located on the site of a known Roman cemetery where excavations in 1820-1 produced the Colchester sphinx sculpture from an elaborate tomb. Roman kilns are also recorded on the site. This evaluation revealed two pits and a ditch surviving at depths of c 0.4-0.6m below current ground- level. All three features contained material of Roman date but their significance is difficult to determine based on the limited extent of the evaluation.