An archaeological evaluation and watching brief in the grounds of East Hill House and the Colchester bus station, Colchester, Essex: October 2004

The site lies to the south of Colchester High Street and east of Queen Street, within the south-east corner of the Roman and medieval walled town. Nine small exploratory trenches were dug in the grounds of East Hill House. The aim of this work was to establish the depth of archaeologically sensitive deposits within the development footprint for a proposed civic arts building. Roman levels were found to lie at depths of between 15cm and 60cm, beneath soils which suggest that the trenched area was for the most part open ground from the end of the Roman period. The exposed Roman material consisted mainly of deposits containing destruction debris and included two probable robber trenches and a gravelled area. As an adjunct to the excavations, engineers’ geotechnical sample holes in the trenched area and in the adjacent bus station to the east were observed and the strata noted as a result.