Archaeological monitoring at the former Arena Leisure Centre, Circular Road East,

Colchester, Essex, CO2 7SZ

March 2018

by Laura Pooley

fieldwork by Nigel Rayner

commissioned by Rob Masefield, RPS Group Plcon behalf of Mace Ltd

NGR: TL 99664 24415 (centre)Planning reference: pre-application

CAT project ref.: 18/033Colchester Museum accession code COLEM: 2018.22

CHER ref: ECC4152OASIS reference: colchest3-311814

Colchester Archaeological TrustRoman Circus HouseRoman Circus Walk, Colchester, Essex, CO2 7GZ

tel.: 01206 501785

email: lp@catuk.org CAT Report 1245 March 2017

Essex Historic Environment Record/Essex Archaeology and History

Summary sheet

Site name & address: Archaeological monitoring at the former Arena Leisure Centre, Circular Road East, Colchester, Essex, CO2 7SZ

Parish: Colchester District: Colchester

NGR: TL 99664 24415 (centre) Site code: CAT project ref.: 18/03eCHER ref: ECC4152OASIS ref: colchest3-311814

Type of work: Monitoring and recording

Site director/group: Colchester Archaeological Trust

Date of work: 14th March 2018

Size of area investigated: 1.67h

Location of curating museum: Colchester museumaccession code COLEM: 2018.22

Funding source: Developer

Further seasons anticipated? Not known

Related CHER/SAM number:Roman Circus SM no.35614

Final report: CAT Report 1245

Periods represented: -

Summary of fieldwork results: Archaeological monitoring was carried out on the former Arena Leisure Centre during the excavation of six boreholes. The boreholes were located 43-120m south of Colchester's Roman Circus (a scheduled monument) and in an area of known Roman burials, a trackway, field boundaries and pits (CAT Reports 843 & 1142).

Each borehole measured approximately 0.1m in diameter.

Borehole 1 (BH1): Excavated through 2015 evaluation trench T2. Excavated through 0.2m loose tarmac, 0.3m dark yellow/brown sandy-loam, 0.1m crush and 0.1m mid yellow/brown loamy-sand onto natural sands and gravels at 0.7m below current ground level (bcgl).Borehole 2 (BH2): Excavated through 0.6m deep, excavated through 0.2m dark grey/brown sandy-loam, 0.1m crush and 0.3m dark yellow/brown slightly loamy-sand onto natural sands and gravels at 0.7m bcgl.Borehole 3 (BH3): Excavated through 0.5m deep, excavated through 0.2m dark grey/brown sandy-loam with loose tarmac and 0.3m dark yellow/brown slightly loamy-

sand onto natural sands and gravels at 0.7m bcgl.Borehole 4 (BH4): Excavated through 0.6m deep, excavated through 0.3m very dark brown sandy-loam with brick fragments and 0.3m dark yellow/brown sandy-loam with brick fragments onto natural sands and gravels at 0.7m bcgl.Borehole 5 (BH5): Excavated through 0.6m deep, excavated through 0.2m very dark grey/brown sandy-loam, 0.2m crush and 0.2m mixed yellow/brown orange/brown sandy-loam onto natural sands and gravels at 0.7m bcgl.Borehole 6 (BH6): Excavated through 0.5m deep, excavated through 0.2m crush and 0.3m dark yellow/brown sandy-loam onto natural sands and gravels at 0.7m bcgl.

No significant archaeological horizons were identified within the borehole samples.

Previous summaries/reports: CAT Report 843 & 1142

CBC monitor: Jess Tipper

Keywords: - Significance: -

Author of summary: Laura Pooley

Date of summary: March 2018

ReferencesCAT Report 843, 2015, Archaeological trial-trenching at the Arena Leisure Centre, Circular Road East, Essex, Stage 1a: pre-determination trenching. April-May 2015.

CAT Report 1142, 2017, The Roman Circus and other remains: archaeological evaluation and monitoring at the former Arena Leisure Centre, Circular Road East, Colchester, Essex, CO2 7SZ, Stage 1b: pre-determination trenching. May-June 2017.

© Colchester Archaeological Trust 2018

Distribution listRob Masefield, RPS Group PlcMace LtdJess Tipper, Colchester Borough Council Planning ServicesEssex Historic Environment Record

Colchester Archaeological TrustRoman Circus House,Roman Circus Walk, Colchester, Essex, CO2 7GZ

tel.: 01206 501785email: lp@catuk.org

Checked by: Philip CrummyDate: 19.2.2018

ESSEX

Chelmsford

Colchester

Fig 1 Site location, boreholes shown as pink circles

Abbey Field

Circu

lar R

oad E

ast

Sports Pitches

0 100 m

Roman CircusCirc

ular R

oad

Nor

th

Napier Road

© Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Licence number 100039294.

F90

Fig 2 Location of boreholes 1-6 (BH1-6) in relation to previous archaeological evaluations (2015: T1-T11 and 2017: T12-T22)

Abbey Field

Circu

lar R

oad E

ast

Sports pitches

T3

T4

T15

T6

T7

T8

T13

T21

T18

T5

T17

T16

T19

T22

T14

T2

T1

T20

T12

20 m0

Roman

post-medieval

modern

undated

© Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Licence number 100039294.

Circus central barrier

Circus cavea wall

BH2

BH6

BH5BH3

BH4

BH1

Boreholes (BH) 1-6(not to scale)

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