#FindsFriday Theatre Royal

This week we’ve got a quadruple whammy of excitement for you this #FindsFriday! Not only do we have our open weekend at the former bus depot in Queen Street, Colchester, but we are continuing our free exhibition “The Story of Britain’s First Town Wall” at @wearetheminories, hosting a Roman open day at the Roman Circus House and we’re also launching our brand new website: catuk.org! 🥳

To celebrate all of this we thought we’d give those of you who are unable to attend the open weekend a peek at some of the finds we’ve had from the former Theatre Royal!👀

The Theatre Royal burnt down in September 1918 and was then built on top of just a few years later in 1920. During our excavation we have not only found the original foundations of the building, but the former stage pit which has been a treasure trove of material from the theatre. Some of the standout finds include chandelier prisms, sheet music (some of which is still legible enough to figure out what it would have been!), chess pieces, and even a violin!🎻

It seems as though a lot of the debris from the fire was placed inside of the stage pit, so this has been a valuable source of information about the theatre and what was going on! We’re so excited to share more about Colchester’s heritage with you, so keep an eye on our socials and new website for any more exciting finds as we continue our work!🤩