For this #ThrowbackThursday we are looking at some of our work in Lower Castle Park, Colchester. In 2010, we monitored the excavation of foundation trenches for an art installation at Lower Castle Park. Once the turf was removed, we observed modern finds (i.e plastic bottle tops) in the upper part of the trenches. A cluster of post-medieval/modern nails were also identified Beneath this top soil, occasional inclusions of stone, charcoal and ceramic building material (CBM) were identified. Peg-tile fragments and some very well-preserved animal bones derived from domesticates (some exh ..read more

FREE event for families to learn about local archaeology. Activities and stalls to try. On-site café. Based at the Roman Circus Visitor Centre. Saturday 22 July 2023 10am-3pm. The post Two weeks until Archaeology Day! appeared first on Colchester Archaeological Trust ..read more

We’ve a bigger than usual #FindsFriday for you all today. In 2022 we undertook a watching brief at Cut Throat Lane in Witham where we were looking for the remains of a train turntable Railway turntables were typically constructed at the end of railway lines and were used to turn a train around back when they could only go in one direction. They were constructed by excavating a large pit in which a concrete base and walls are built. A central pivot supported a metal bridge on which the trackway for the trains sat. Inside the pit would be an external platform on which wheels would sit to help i ..read more

Today we are remembering our work at the former Sargeant’s Engineering Works, Northgate Street, Colchester for #ThrowbackThursday. Back in 1996-1997, we conducted a series of watching briefs at the former Sargeant’s Engineering Works, to follow up an evaluation on the site in 1993 which demonstrated that Roman material may have existed below the level of the evaluation trenches. Additionally, the site lies in the north-east corner of Insula 5 of the Roman town, suggesting it might hold archaeological significance The watching briefs recorded the remains of several different Roman structur ..read more

On Friday 23 June, Field Archaeologist Matt (pictured) and I spent our day at Colchester Sixth Form College This was a great experience for us, as we both attended the Sixth Form as students some years ago, so it was fun to see what everyone has been up to I spoke to a very full class about careers in archaeology and heritage, and we met some very enthusiastic students during the careers fair‍ It was lovely to meet a few potential future archaeologists ~ Victoria Sands, Senior Post-Excavation Assistant The post Sixth Form College Careers Day appeared first on Colchester Archaeological Trust ..read more

We’re back for another #FindsFriday and today we’ve got this lead toy soldier that was found during our excavations at Essex County Hospital. Toy soldiers began being mass produced in the late 18th century and were made of a brightly coloured lead. They were expensive, however, so the market did not pick up very easily. Towards the end of the 19th century the English firm William Britains introduced a cheaper way of production and thus the popularity of toy soldier boomed! A full analysis of this little guy hasn’t been completed yet, so it’s too early to tell whether he’s an earlier model or n ..read more

This week, for #ThrowbackThursday we are discussing the Northern Growth Area Urban Extension site (NGAUE) in north Colchester. In September-December 2011, we conducted an evaluation by geophysical survey, fieldwalking and trial-trenching in for proposed development This area is interesting as previous discoveries of large amounts of medieval pottery in Mile End and Great Horkesley have evidenced that a series of separate pottery kilns were in operation here, collectively known as the ‘Mile End’ pottery industry’. Despite previous excavation in 1973, these kilns have not been found, b ..read more

Today for #FindsFriday we’re going to talk about some interesting finds from our work at St Mary’s church in Wivenhoe in 2021. For a previous #ThrowbackThursday we discussed the site as a whole, including that 23 burials were found as well as many finds associated with burial. This includes coffin nails, upholstery studs, handles and grip plates. Burial in coffins became more common in the late 17th century onwards, with fabric, decorative metal studs and handles fixed with decorative grip plates. Only three complete/near complete iron grip plates were identified from the s ..read more

For this #ThrowbackThursday we thought we would tell you a little more about the Colchester Northern Gateway area. We conducted work at Colchester Northern Gateway Sports Hub, east of Colchester Park and Ride, back in 2017-2018. In November-December 2017, we undertook an archaeological evaluation (120 trial-trenches) which revealed 24 charcoal-rich pits probably related to charcoal production. Two of these pits included finds that dated to the Roman and post-Roman periods. Radiocarbon dates were obtained from charcoal in two other pits, and dated to the Middle Iron Age and late Anglo-Saxon/ear ..read more

Happy Monday everyone! On Friday 2nd June, I carried out a talk for the wonderful Brightlingsea U3A group on the excavation we carried out at the Jacks department store (now Three Wise Monkeys) in Colchester We had a wonderful time visiting, and enjoyed all of the insightful questions and conversation If you want to learn more about our excavation at Jacks, check out CAT report 1614 at cat.essex.ac.uk. To enquire about community talks, please contact us at info@catuk.org The post Community talk in Brightlingsea! appeared first on Colchester Archaeological Trust ..read more