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the Trust reports on evaluation at the Arena Club in Colchester
The Trust conducted an archaeological evaluation at the Arena Club in two stages in late April and early May. The Arena Club stands on Circular Road East and beside the Abbey Field in Colchester, within the area of the old garrison, not far from Roman Circus House. Trust archaeologist Mark Baister supervised the fieldwork and he completed the site report today (8th June).
During the evaluation, we removed areas of turf or tarmac surface and then machine-excavated eleven trenches. Archaeological features were located and then partly hand-excavated. It was quite a difficult site to investigate, as it contains lots of modern services, and the fieldwork was undertaken only to evaluate the archaeological remains on the site. Our excavators uncovered probably eleven Roman inhumation burials. Surprisingly, no evidence of any Roman cremation burials was uncovered, although we have excavated a large number of cremation burials in recent years on two nearby sites (on the Abbey Field and at our garrison Area C2). The burials at the Arena Club site represent part of the Roman cemetery area which we have excavated across several sites in the old garrison, including Area C2.
Area C2 and the Arena Club site are both within the hinterland of the Roman town. This area to the south of the town was occupied by the Roman circus and also extensive Roman cemetery areas which contained burial plots and the single burials of hundreds of individuals, but which were usually grouped in dense clusters. The rest of this hinterland was used as agricultural land. Area C2 was a triangular site within the angle of the crossroads between Napier Road and Circular Road East, so it is very close to the Arena Club. We excavated Area C2 a few years ago and it was written up in CAT Report 412: ‘… [Area C2] was dominated by a large, late Roman cemetery and also revealed a short section of the remains of the large Roman circus also seen on Areas C1 and J1 …’. At Area C2, we excavated 67 Roman burials and burial-related features just to the south of the site of the Roman circus. These included 26 inhumation burials, including one within a lead coffin, 22 unurned cremation burials, eleven urned cremation burials, five burial pits containing pyre debris, and two boxed cremation burials. A large number of the burial features included burial goods which could be dated, mostly pottery vessels but also small finds. The evidence showed that the burials on this site ranged in date from the early-mid 2nd to the 4th century, especially the 3rd-4th century, so it represents a later Roman cemetery.
We did not fully excavate the burials at the Arena Club and so are not yet able to date them. However, the evaluation produced a good selection of Roman pottery fragments, and these have been dated to the 1st-mid 3rd century, with no later pottery. The Roman circus was built in the early 2nd century AD and demolished about 150 years later, towards the end of the 3rd century, so it is likely that the many burials around it include some of the people who attended chariot races at the circus…
The Arena Club was built in 1947 as the NAAFI club for Colchester garrison. It was designed by Ernest M Joseph of the London architectural practice Messrs Joseph, and it was one of a group of eight post-war NAAFI clubs which were built, all designed by Mr Joseph. The eight NAAFI clubs were Portsmouth (built 1946), Colchester garrison (1947), Aldershot garrison (1948), Chatham (1948), Catterick garrison (1949), Plymouth (1952), Lincoln (1952-3), and Salisbury (1954) *. Roman Circus House was built in 1937 to house the NAAFI institute of the Artillery (Le Cateau) Barracks.
Read CAT Report 412 in our online archive at http://cat.essex.ac.uk/ .
The images show two photo.s from the Arena Club site archive.
* Details from the English Heritage report on the Plymouth NAAFI club (2010): ‘… [Ernest] Joseph had a long-lasting connection with the Ministry of Defence and the NAAFI.
During the First World War he was appointed in an architectural capacity to the Army Canteen Board, later to become the NAAFI, and in World War II he became Director of Works, overseeing the construction of temporary clubs for troops. After the war, the NAAFI began a programme of erecting permanent club buildings to a high standard, often with residential accommodation for members of the forces and their families…
Where Joseph was not constrained by existing settings, or schemes, his NAAFI designs were modern in style, as exemplified by the buildings at Colchester, Chatham and Catterick, whilst those at Lincoln and Salisbury are neo-Georgian, in keeping with their historic settings; at Plymouth he employed a massive Northern European modernism with neo-Classical leanings which had become associated with public buildings …
The construction of the NAAFI clubs was a significant post-war project, providing extensive recreational and – usually – accommodation facilities for servicemen and women in well-designed, prominent buildings, and the clubs received considerable public and press attention. Several of the buildings – including the one at Plymouth – featured in contemporary architectural journals. The Plymouth Club was typical in offering a range of public spaces for social and intellectual pursuits, together with living accommodation, and services such as hairdressing and mending. The spirit of post-war optimism which the clubs embodied had particular resonance at Plymouth, where the NAAFI Club played a part in the reconstruction of the bombed city centre. Some clubs were located on military bases, but the urban settings of others, like the one at Plymouth, underlined the dovetailing of military and civilian spheres which the clubs might achieve…
Of the post-war NAAFI clubs known to have been built, those at Portsmouth, Aldershot and Catterick have been demolished. The Colchester building now houses a leisure centre and has been considerably altered externally and internally, although the footprint of the building remains identical. The Chatham club has been converted to a hotel and external modifications have altered the appearance of the building, though once again, the footprint remains unchanged …’ – at www.architectsjournal.co.uk/Journals/1/Files/2010/7/27/170942%20Hoe%20Centre%20%20Plymouth.pdf .
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