An archaeological evaluation by trial-trenching at Area E of the Garrison Urban Village, Colchester, Essex: May 2004

An archaeological evaluation at Area E of the planned urban village at the Garrison, Colchester, Essex was carried out as part of a programme of archaeological evaluation of areas of alienated land, acquired by Taylor Woodrow for residential development. Four trenches were excavated with a total of 213m of trenching. Within the evaluation trenches, 25 features were recorded. All of these features were Roman, except for modern disturbance and a post-medieval ditch which is interpreted as being part of the remains of the 1648 siegeworks. The Roman activity was concentrated in Trench E1 and Trench E2 and included demolition material and the robbed-out wall lines of a building surrounded by a large enclosure ditch. Large amounts of demolition material and pottery were also recovered from this ditch, dating it to the 2nd to 3rd century AD. Outside the enclosure ditch, in Trench E1 and Trench E4, a number of smaller ditches were recorded which are interpreted as having been boundary ditches forming part of a field system associated with the enclosure and the structure within it. Some of the Roman pottery retrieved during the evaluation may represent disturbed burials.