An archaeological excavation and watching brief at 26 West Lodge Road, Colchester, Essex – May 2001

A small archaeological excavation and watching brief at 26 West Lodge Road failed to reveal any Roman cremations or any other features or finds of archaeological interest. The investigation showed that the ground had been disturbed and contaminated with modern material. It was expected that at least one more Roman cremation burial would be found by the investigation. The cremation found in the north-eastern part of the site by the evaluation was sealed by a layer that did not contain any modern material and was therefore quite early (Crossan 2000, 2). However, the layers recorded during this current investigation appeared to be more disturbed. One explanation is that any other cremations may already have been disturbed by modern activity or deliberately excavated by John Taylor in the 19th century. However, there is the possibility that cremations still survive on the site and that the groundworks simply missed them.