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Colchester Archaeological Report 3

In Colchester, the 1970s saw several large-scale redevelopments involving the destruction of substantial parts of the buried remains of the Roman and medieval town. Despite severely limited funds, large excavations were mounted to record as much as possible of the threatened areas. The investigations proved to be very rewarding; notable was the discovery of the Roman fortress of the Twentieth Legion and the realisation of the fact that the Roman colony at Colchester had not been established on vacant land as had always been supposed, but was in effect the fortress modified to suit a civilian role.

Colchester Archaeological Report 3 by Philip Crummy, Director of Excavations in Colchester since 1971, presents accounts of the three major sites of the 1970s. The scope of the volume is restricted to descriptions of the structures and main deposits and the objects closely associated with them (eg wall plaster, veneers, whole pots set in the ground). Loose finds such as animal bone, pottery, and small finds are to be published as separate corpora, each covering all the sites excavated between 1971 and 1979.Described in the volume are the defences of the fortress, the Roman colony and the medieval town (ditches, ramparts, wall, and bastion) and parts of over 70 buildings dating from early Roman times to the 18th-century. Other material includes mosaic pavements, decorated wall plaster, organic remains burnt during the Boudican revolt, Roman allotment(s), Roman water-mains, a possible roman aqueduct, early Roman executions, a Roman pottery kiln, two Anglo-Saxon huts, early medieval pottery kilns, and medieval lime kilns. Also presented is a detailed structural survey of a timber-framed house of 15th-century and later date and an account of the subsequent excavation of its site following demolition. The reports are prefaced by an outline of the current state of knowledge of the development and character of Colchester and its buildings.

The publication is in three parts: a book, a box of outsize illustrations printed on both sides of six sheets of A1 paper, and a microfiche supplement mainly containing section drawings (about 100) and appendices describing some of the finds and samples.

Contributors to the volume are Howard Brooks (co-author of the Middleborough report), P M Barford (lead coffin), J Bayley (technological finds), C M Cunningham (medieval ceramics), Nina Crummy (Roman building materials), P J Drury (post-Roman building materials), Maisie Taylor and A J Gouldwell (charcoal samples), Dr S Limbrey (soil sample), Dr R Ling (wall plaster), Joan Liversidge (Roman bed), Dr R Luff (human and animal bones), P M Murphy (burnt fruit and cereals; soil samples), David S Neal and Dr D J Smith (mosaics), R P Symonds and K F Hartley (Roman pottery), and Dr J P Wild (textiles).

Publication of the report was made possible by a generous grant from English Heritage.

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