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"Case of the missing coin hoard?"

The 1969 hoard

The canister found in 2000

Much of the site had been destroyed in 1969 when it was last redeveloped. The construction of exceptionally massive pile-caps and ground-beams resulted in the loss of most of the archaeological remains which were there. To minimise further damage, it was decided that the new building should re-use the existing foundations and thereby reduce the need for more ground disturbance. Our role during the redevelopment works was therefore modest and restricted to digging a few trenches where new foundations were needed, and carrying out a watching brief when the builders cleared the 1969 foundations in readiness for their re-use.

Start of the medieval and modern town

Despite the limitations, two very interesting discoveries were made. One object of especial interest from the site was a large part of a relatively primitive pot. The shape, fabric, and method of manufacture of the vessel show it to be 9th century. It is a transitional type, combining the characteristics of pottery known as Ipswich-type ware (Middle Saxon) with Thetford-type ware (late Saxon to Norman).

The date and location of the find help us understand what happened in Colchester between the end of the Roman period in the 5th century and the Norman conquest 700 years later. There is only modest evidence for life in Colchester between the 5th and the 8th centuries, and this is mainly in the form of burials and the remains of a few huts. Occupation in the 10th and 11th centuries is better represented, both by archaeological finds and written records. The problem has always been the 9th century, the time in between these two periods, when the archaeological and historical records are practically blank. It seems hard to believe that the town was deserted at this time, so it is of great interest to find on the Menzies' site such clear evidence of life in this otherwise `dark' period of Colchester's past.

The 5th- to 8th-century material is scattered around the town with no obvious concentrations. The distribution seems to reflect the Roman town. The 10th- and 11th-century finds, on the other hand, are at their densest close to the High Street, and the 9th-century pot fits this pattern. The High Street was the core of medieval Colchester in almost every way - physically, economically, and administratively. Its economic function was paramount, because it hosted the market and was where most of the houses and shops were to be found. The large fragment of pot from the Menzies' site is an important find, because it shows that Colchester probably became an urban centre in the 9th century.

A third hoard?

The other interesting discovery at Menzies' in 2000 was a lead canister. It lay only a few yards away from where, in 1969, another lead canister had been found filled with coins (see page 20). Unfortunately the latest lead canister was empty, but the way the lid sags inwards hints that the vessel was once upright, presumably filled with coins. The canister had been buried upside-down in a small pit, with the lead lid firmly attached. The edges of the lid had been bent over to hold it in place. A solitary coin of Henry III lay in the soil close by, as if it had been dropped when the canister was being emptied.

The canister is decorated with crosses and vertical lines. Decoration of this form is characteristic of Roman lead tanks, and it seems that whoever made the canister must have cut one up and re-used the lead sheeting.

The find is puzzling. Why bury the canister upside-down? Come to that, why bury it at all when the canister could have been kept on a shelf or under the bed until it was needed? Whatever the explanation, it is unlikely that the canister was in the pit because it had been thrown away. Lead was valuable, and people did not normally dispose of rubbish under their floors.

The work was commissioned by Chartwell Land Ltd. The archaeological consultants were CgMs (Consulting) Ltd.