Watching brief at 9 East Hill, Colchester, Essex

Footings were excavated for a new development on the site of a car-park on Priory Street between properties 52 and 54 and in front of 52a. The footprint of the new building overlay that of a building which once fronted onto Priory Street, the remains of which were observable as numerous layers of building demolition debris interleaved with a grey mixed loam containing frequent brick, mortar, slate and glass fragments. Features of the old building were noted, including a brick drain seen in the boundary wall of the property to the north, and a ?cellar seen in the section of one of the footings trenches. On the north-facing wall of property 52a, an archway leading into what was once the cellar of the old building was excavated. A foundation for a wall or doorway was found in the garden of 9 East Hill. The peg-tile used in its construction and a closely associated fragment of Fabric 21a (Colchester-type ware) both suggest that the structure was late medieval or post-medieval in date.