Roman circus up for offers!

Part of the site of Britain’s only known Roman chariot-racing track is up for sale. House builders Taylor Wimpey have offered a Colchester-based community consortium six months to raise the funds to buy a Victorian building known as the Sergeants’ Mess, which includes in its front garden the site of all eight of the circus’s starting gates. The consortium is trying to put together a financial package to raise the funds which would depend on one or more private buyers purchasing one half of the building. The other half would be used as a visitor centre for the circus and a permanent base for the Colchester Archaeological Trust.

The Roman circus was discovered by the Archaeological Trust in late 2004 during archaeological investigations for Taylor Wimpey as part of the works for the redevelopment of Colchester Garrison. Built in the 2nd century AD, the circus is the only one of its kind known in Britain, the nearest example being 800 miles away in southern France. The giant building was a quarter of a mile long and capable of accommodating about 15,000 spectators. Part of the site of the circus was to be built over, but its discovery resulted in Taylor Wimpey changing their plans so as to leave the remains undisturbed. The site was later given formal protection when the entire footprint of the Roman building was designated a scheduled ancient monument by English Heritage.

The Colchester Borough Council is working on a scheme to mark out and provide public interpretation for the whole circuit of the circus with the finds from the building to be on display in Colchester Castle Museum. An arrangement focused on the gates as envisaged by the consortium would be welcomed by the Borough Council, because it would help achieve an integrated interpretative treatment around the whole circuit of the circus and it would provide an imaginative interpretation for what had been a key area of the Roman building.

The former Sergeants’ Mess is a fine listed building. It was built c 1875 as the officers’ quarters of the Royal Artillery Barracks. Two of the original six barracks are still standing and one has recently been refurbished for housing. The western half of the former Sergeants’ Mess is on offer plus half the front garden which contains the remains of the starting gates. Although the aim of the scheme is to ensure permanent public access to the garden, the occupants of the western half of the building would have full and private use of the garden when it was not open to the public. The consortium consists of Destination Colchester and the Colchester Archaeological Trust.