An archaeological evaluation at the rear of 17-18 Osborne Street, Colchester, Essex: April 2004

Two evaluation trenches were excavated at the rear of 17-18 Osborne Street. Intact Roman levels were found to survive at depths of 1.0m-1.35m below the modern ground surface. These included a sequence of gravel layers and structural features in the form of a clay floor with an associated beam-slot and post-holes. The available dating evidence suggests that most of the intact Roman features are early, probably belonging to the 1st century AD. The medieval and post-medieval periods were represented by pits and dumped material. The absence of structures belonging to these later periods is unlikely to be significant here, since the trenches lie at some distance behind the frontages of any known streets of the time.