£ 2 . 95
Issue no 20 2 0 0 7
Roman gate remains under Head Street
Latest discoveries at the chariot racing track
Colchester's friaries investigated
The cemeteries of Roman Colchester
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The Colchester Archaeologist magazine is
supported by the Friends of Colchester
Archaeological Trust - see page 32.
Front cover. Chris Lister recording
remains of R o m a n H e a d Gate in
H e a d Street.
Below. Le Cateau and Cavalry
Barracks, M a r c h 2 0 0 7 . Photograph
by V a n Cols Ltd.
the Colchester Archaeological Trust:
Plaiter Claiborne,
Birkett Long,
Colchester Civic Society,
Faculty of Building (East Anglia),
Handelsbanken
Chelmsford branch
'is pleased to support
Colchester Archaeological Trust
in their valuable work'
Morley, Riches & Ablewhite,
R G Carter,
The Breakfast Club.
David Wilson
01245 347788
contents
2
Circus u p d a t e
latest
discoveries
at
the
chariot
racing
track
Giant Roman chariot racing mosaic is completed!
by
Peter
8
Herring
Grave concerns: the cemeteries of Roman Colchester
10
by Howard Brooks
13
M a k i n g u p f o r t h e n e x t life
by
Nina
Crummy
14
T w o arches or one?
did the
Roman
Roman
Head
Gate
archaeology
monumental
structures
near
have
more
by Don
the
than
one
entrance?
16
Shimmin
Temple
of
Claudius
18
R o m a n r e m a i n s - n e w views
remains
of
Roman
houses
near
by Howard Brooks
the Mercury Theatre
19
T h e lost c h u r c h o f t h e C r o s s e d Friars
by
Stephen
Benfield
24
T h e lost f r i a r y o f t h e G r e y Friars
building
remains
uncovered
Off to church...
investigations
in
at
the
adult
education
college
26
by Kate Orr
three
village
churches
Bodies in t h e c a r p a r k
3,000
year
old
remains
by Howard Brooks and Ben Holloway
under
Chelmsford park-and-ride
T h e dykes o f C a m u l o d u n o n
anti-chariot
defences
or
boundaries
by David Grocott
of a major trading
28
30
centre?
Friends o f t h e C o l c h e s t e r A r c h a e o l o g i c a l T r u s t
T h e n e w c h a i r m a n g o e s d i g g i n g b y Jane Meech
Last year's trips a n d events
32
33
T h e need for a m a j o r u p g r a d i n g of the
services for the new Garrison developm e n t m e a n t t h a t the the roads w h i c h
overlie the site of t h e circus have had to
be d u g up a n d very large new pipes laid
along t h e m . T h e new services along the
north-south roads (Flagstaff Road a n d
Circular Road East) were laid in 2 0 0 5
a n d the archaeological work w h i c h
preceded t h a t operation was described
in last year's edition of The Colchester
Archaeologist. However, more recently,
it was the t u r n of the east-west roads.
T h e results of the resulting archaeological investigations turned out to be
most impressive a n d exciting.
Removal of the road surface in Napier
Road revealed u n d e r n e a t h an exceptionally well-preserved section of the
stand which provided new a n d useful
information about what happened to
the circus w h e n it was no longer needed.
A n d Circular Road N o r t h proved even
more interesting because here for the
first t i m e was an opportunity to examine
in detail o n e of the t w o t u r n i n g posts
a r o u n d w h i c h t h e chariots w o u l d have
raced. T h e excavation revealed the
exact position of the turning post (an
i m p o r t a n t step for t h e recovery of the
circus plan) a n d also quite extraordinary
i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t the t u r n i n g posts
themselves. It also told us m u c h a b o u t
the nature of t h e central barrier a n d the
kinds of m o n u m e n t s t h a t must have
been in it.
A l t h o u g h the large-scale redevelopment
of the Garrison has provided several
valuable opportunities to investigate the
circus, t h e site of the starting gates lies in
a g a r d e n w h i c h is to be left undeveloped. This is of course a g o o d
t h i n g archaeologically because it means
t h a t the remains of the gates will not be
disturbed. However, if we are to understand the circus properly, we need to
find o u t a b o u t the gates since they were
such an i m p o r t a n t part of the circus. We
need to know exactly where they stood,
h o w m a n y there were, a n d w h a t f o r m
they t o o k . Permission was therefore
sought f r o m Taylor W o o d r o w to carry
o u t a small excavation in the g a r d e n of
the Sergeant's Mess w h i c h they o w n a n d
where nearly all of the remains of the
starting gates lie. Twenty m e m b e r s of
the Friends of C A T volunteered to help
a n d worked over a three week period
under the supervision of Laurie Driver
a n d E m m a Spurgeon t o uncover the
remains of t w o of the starting gates a n d
part of the a d j a c e n t entrance into the
arena.
Above. An e n a m e l l e d horse harness
fitting f o u n d on the Napier Road site. It
lay on the arena surface, within a b o u t
a f o o t away f r o m the stand. It seems
possible f r o m its location t h a t the fitting
had been torn f r o m the harness of a
horse w h e n the a n i m a l collided with
the inner wall of t h e stand. T h e fitting
is a b o u t 31 mm wide.
Below. Photograph by Crpl Richard
Cave of the British A r m y .
Reconstruction d r a w i n g by Peter Froste.
Excavation of the stand
T h e remains of the stand which were
uncovered in Napier Road - the seating
area in the circus - turned o u t to be the
best we have yet seen in terms of
preservation. In plan, the stand proved
to be just as we have f o u n d it
elsewhere - a narrow inner f o u n d a t i o n
a n d a m u c h more substantial outer
f o u n d a t i o n m a d e stronger with the
addition of buttresses along the outside.
T h e purpose of the buttresses was to
help counteract the o u t w a r d pressure on
the wall caused by the earth bank,
seating, a n d spectators so t h a t the wall
w o u l d not topple outwards.
The seating would probably have been
in the f o r m of w o o d e n benches
arranged in tiers laid directly on an earth
bank contained by the inner a n d outer
walls of the stand.
T h e width of the stand is of considerable
interest since this is a key consideration
w h e n estimating the likely capacity of
the building. Even so, it is a tricky
business. If, as seems likely, spectators
sat on every tier a n d shared their space
with the feet of t h e spectators behind
t h e m , then the circus could have held up
to a b o u t 1 5 , 0 0 0 or so people. If the
spectators only occupied every other
tier, t h e n the total w o u l d have been just
over half t h a t number.
An interesting aspect of the Napier
Road excavation was the evidence it
provided for the end of the circus. T h e
outer wall appears to have been
deliberately dismantled in t h e later
Roman period so t h a t the building
materials could be salvaged for reuse
elsewhere. This was indicated by a layer
of crushed m o r t a r a n d chips of stone left
by the stone 'robbers' a l o n g t h e outside
of the circus. There was no equivalent
layer of demolition debris next to the
inner wall. Instead large pieces of stone
lay along the edge of t h e arena where
they had fallen off t h e t o p of t h e inner
wall. This shows t h a t the inner wall had
not been dismantled like the outer one
but had been left to decay slowly. It's
hard to explain why the t w o walls were
treated differently, but perhaps it was
t h o u g h t t h a t the inner wall c o n t a i n e d
t o o little stone to justify the salvage
work.
A b o v e : f o u n d a t i o n of the outer wall of
the stand viewed f r o m the west. T h e
large projection on t h e right side of the
wall is the base of a long buttress on
the exterior of the wall.
Right: Napier Road after the road
surface had been removed. Viewed
f r o m the east with conjectural profiles
of the stand a d d e d . Photograph by
V a n Cols Ltd.
Excavation of the near turning
post
T h e purpose of the central barrier in a
circus was to separate the t w o tracks
a n d provide a location for m o n u m e n t s
a n d lap-counters of different kinds. T h e
barriers were t e r m i n a t e d at either end by
a t u r n i n g post. Confusingly, these did
not take t h e f o r m of a single post as the
n a m e suggests, but instead each was
c o m p o s e d of a g r o u p of three large
cones set o u t on t h e corners of an
equal-sided triangle.
W h e n the remains of t h e near turning
post were uncovered in Circular Road
N o r t h , we were confronted by a puzzling
concentration of rubble. This was
reminiscent of t h e rubble in t h e Napier
Road site which h a d t u m b l e d off the
inner wall of the stand on to t h e surface
of the a r e n a . Further investigation
revealed t h a t the rubble lay to the west
of the remains of a narrow wall which
had f o r m e d t h e semicircular end of the
barrier. In other words, just as at Napier
Road, the rubble represents parts of the
circus which had collapsed on to the
arena after the building was no longer
used. T h e f a c t t h a t the rubble derived
f r o m the barrier was proved by the
remarkable discovery in t h e rubble of
part of the base of one of the three
cones which had stood a few metres to
t h e east on the end of it. T h e cone had
been m a d e entirely of brick, m u c h of it
with a curved edge to f o r m the circular
outer face of the cone.
An o d d feature of the rubble was t h a t it
appeared to be far t o o low d o w n to be
lying on t h e arena surface. However,
more investigation revealed the explana t i o n . It lay on a part of the arena
surface which had been heavily worn
away. A favoured tactic during the races
was to keep as close as possible to the
end of the barrier w h e n m a k i n g 3 6 0
degree turns. T h e profile of the arena
surface immediately next to the t u r n i n g
post illustrated this point beautifully by
being w o r n away to a d e p t h of perhaps
a b o u t half a metre where the chariots
had m a d e their U-turns.
Above. T h e rubble lying at the end of the barrier.
Centre. Remains of one of the cones being uncovered.
Below left. Remains of the cone fully uncovered.
Below right. Evidence for pressurised water: the iron b a n d upright as f o u n d .
A n o t h e r remarkable discovery was t h a t
of a narrow iron b a n d lying upright in the
arena close to t h e barrier. T h e iron band
m a y seem a rather dull a n d inconsequential object. However, this is not
the case, because it is clearly recognisable as part of a w a t e r - m a i n . T h e thin
iron bands were h a m m e r e d into the
walls of thick w o o d e n pipes to m a k e
pressure-resistant mains. T h e presence
of t h e collar shows t h a t pressurised
water was t a k e n to the barrier a n d t h a t
thus the latter must have incorporated a
range of advanced features such as
water-filled basins, fountains, a n d lapcounters in the shape of spouting
dolphins, which characterised t h e circus
in its fully-developed f o r m .
5
Excavation of the starting gates
T h e starting gates proved to be better preserved t h a n
expected. T h e remains of t w o complete stalls were
uncovered plus one side of the central entrance. The
latter w o u l d have been flanked on either side by an
equal n u m b e r of stalls w h i c h , in most circuses, was six
to give a total of twelve in all. A l t h o u g h t h e total
n u m b e r of gates in the Colchester circus is yet to be
established beyond any d o u b t , the size of t h e stalls a n d
t h e w i d t h of t h e west end of the circus (all now known)
neatly fit a full c o m p l e m e n t of twelve. Solid walls of
stone separated each of t h e stalls. T h e stalls
themselves were just wide e n o u g h to m a k e sure t h a t
once inside t h e horses in a four-horse chariot could not
t u r n a r o u n d but had to face the direction of the race.
T h e front of each of the gates w o u l d have been fitted
with d o u b l e doors. T h e magistrate w h o presided over
the races a n d was responsible for starting each one sat
in a special box above the entranceway. On his
c o m m a n d , an assistant (also in the box) pulled a lever
which operated a m e c h a n i s m designed to ensure t h a t
all t h e doors opened simultaneously. Remains of the
demolished box lay on a thin gravelled surface in the
entranceway where t h e presence of f r a g m e n t s of roof
tile a n d painted plaster showed it to have been a
well-built a n d nicely decorated r o o m .
Philip
Crummy
A b o v e t o p : excavation in t h e g a r d e n of the Victorian
Officers' Mess, later to b e c o m e the Sergeants' Mess.
Left centre: the excavation of stalls 7 (left) a n d 8
(right) looking westwards. T h e chariots w o u l d have
faced to the b o t t o m right in readiness for the start.
Left below: the remains of the roof a n d walls of the
magistrate's box under excavation.
The excavation of the gates was a research project and therefore
not part of the main Garrison excavations. It was made possible by
a grant from the Essex Heritage Trust with additional funding
from the corporate friends of the Friends of the Colchester
Archaeological Trust. (See inside cover for the names of the
corporate friends.) Permission to excavate in the garden was kindly
given by Taylor Woodrow. Most of the excavation was carried out
by volunteers from the Friends of the Colchester Archaeological
Trust. The excavation of the circus and burials (pp 10-13) is part
of the garrison excavation undertaken for Taylor Woodrow with
project management by RPS Planning.
Giant Roman chariot
racing mosaic is
completed!
It is well over a year since I wrote my first
article for the C A T magazine a n d at t h a t
t i m e the first half of our 20 by 10 f o o t
mosaic was beginning to take shape with an estimated 6 0 , 0 0 0 tesserae laid.
It is with great relief t h a t I c a n report the
construction phase of the project has
now been c o m p l e t e d . In f a c t t h e last of
the 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 tesserae were laid on t h e
7th September 2 0 0 6 . It has been quite
a journey a n d involved m a n y people
f r o m almost all segments of our local
c o m m u n i t y . It has given me t r e m e n d ous satisfaction to see the way in w h i c h
everybody has pulled together to create
a superb piece of illustrative artwork
which will hopefully be appreciated by
generations of Colcestrians a n d t o w n
visitors in the decades a h e a d .
Whilst we should be justifiably proud of
w h a t we have created, the task is not
quite finished. T h e mosaic is waiting for
a h o m e so t h a t it c a n be properly
unveiled. Several options are currently
under review a n d I am hopeful t h a t we
can reach a satisfactory conclusion very
soon. For this reason, I have not included a picture of t h e c o m p l e t e d
mosaic - you will need to be patient!
W i t h i n the confines of this article, it is
impossible to do justice to the e n o r m o u s
construction task, a n d I have therefore
decided to provide a short timeline of the
key events along the way. Having never
m a d e a mosaic in my life, it was truly a
journey of discovery, but we must
r e m e m b e r t h a t the key contributors to
the project have been a r o u n d 1,000 of
our local school children a n d young
adults - well d o n e , you have created a n other chapter in Colchester's illustrious
history!
Peter Herring
Voluntary Project Manager, CAT
Abbeyfields Roman Mosaic Project
8
I w o u l d like to t h a n k t h e f o l l o w i n g people f o r t h e i r help a n d s u p p o r t w i t h t h e project:
* The Heritage Lottery Fund (The Local Heritage Initiative) for
their financial support
* Peter Froste for the artwork design and production
* Sue Cowans, Kevin Flower, Tessa Sagar, Chris Roberts, John
Jones & all the staff at The Philip Morant School & College
* All the students of The Philip Morant School & College for
their tremendous commitment in creating the majority of the
mosaic and in particular the 2005/2006 Year 10 Art students
who undertook the complex parts of the mosaic
* The pupils from Prettygate Infants & Junior Schools,
Hamilton, Lexden, Home Farm and Gosbecks Primary
Schools who helped to complete the mosaic
* Anne Schwegmann-Fielding for support, inspiration and
advice
* DAG Construction of Stanway for providing the workshop
foundation
* Stacey Flannegan of the Philip Morant Site Team for his work
on keeping the workshop weatherproof and secure
* Glenn Jones for the supply and fitting of the workshop carpet
* Volunteers from the Friends of CAT who provided essential
assistance in completing the mosaic - especially Brenda
May, Margaret Gooderham and Alan Stokes
* Sara Green and Bella Pearce for their helping out in the
workshop
* Sgt Bob Byers & Staff of MCTC ' D ' Company for their
tremendous support in the key tasks of transporting the
mosaic, joining the two halves and the fibre glass and
reinforcing process
* Michael Swindells from the Mosaic Shop, Bath for his
generous discounts
* The Dulux Decorator Centre, Colchester for the donation of
materials
* Tile & Stone, Colchester for the generous discounts on grout
mix
* The East of England Co-operative Society for keeping the
students refreshed during the hot weather!
* Lexden Restorations for providing storage facilities for the
finished mosaic
* Van Cols Creative Design & Photography for kindly
photographing the finished mosaic
* HSS Hire for transport and the supply of equipment
* Adhere Industrial Tapes for storage facilities and materials
* Technical Resin Bonders Ltd for the supply of the reinforcing
panels
Grave concerns:
the cemeteries
of Roman
Colchester
I n his m a g i s t e r i a l 1 9 5 8 p u b l i c a t i o n
Roman
Colchester,
Rex
Hull
suggested t h a t Roman Colchester
h a d seven s e p a r a t e c e m e t e r i e s .
A r c h a e o l o g i c a l w o r k since t h a t t i m e
has b r o u g h t to l i g h t a very l a r g e
number of burials, notably at Butt
Road and on t h e Colchester
G a r r i s o n site. H o w has o u r
perception of the cemeteries
c h a n g e d o v e r t h e h a l f - c e n t u r y since
Hull's publication?
By R o m a n law, adults could not be
buried in a city or t o w n . So, by necessity,
burials had to be located outside t h e city
walls. In Hull's t i m e , it was t h o u g h t t h a t
the burials were loosely g r o u p e d into
w h a t we w o u l d now call 'cemeteries',
a n d Hull recognised seven of these
a r o u n d Colchester - the Lexden, West,
Abbey Field, Butt Road, U n i o n (ie St
Mary's), N o r t h a n d North-east c e m e t eries. T h e discovery of m a n y m o r e
R o m a n burials since t h e 1950s has
shown the situation was not quite so
simple.
O n e change since Hull's t i m e is the
realisation t h a t the burials were placed
in discrete plots whose boundaries were
defined by ditches, or by the side of an
adjacent road or track. It had been
known for some t i m e t h a t a favourite
location for R o m a n burials was a l o n g side m a i n roads, particularly as they
approached
the
town
gates.
In
Colchester, the London Road was
flanked by impressive m o n u m e n t s such
as t h e Colchester Royal G r a m m a r
School
temple-tomb
(Colchester
Archaeologist 19), by lesser t o m b s such
as those m a r k e d by the Longinus a n d
Facilis tombstones, a n d by the Colchester Sphinx. It has been more of a
surprise t h a t , even w h e n the roads
turned away f r o m the t o w n into areas of
f a r m l a n d , the sides of those semi-rural
or rural trackways were still favourite
places for burial. A g o o d example is a
10
m a j o r trackway w h i c h has only c o m e to
light in recent years, f l a n k i n g the 2 0 0 4 - 5
excavations to t h e south of the Butt
Road 'Pay & Display' car park a n d t h e n
running south across A b b e y Field. On
the 2 0 0 4 - 5 sites, only the east side of
the track fell within the excavated areas,
but over 3 5 0 burials crowded up to this
boundary. T h e existence of these
ditched cemetery plots first b e c a m e
evident on the site of the Butt Road
police station, where m a j o r excavations
took place in t h e 1970s a n d 1980s
before the police station was built. Here,
a small 2 n d - to 3rd-century, ditched
cremation a n d i n h u m a t i o n cemetery
was replaced by a large, ditched
i n h u m a t i o n cemetery in the late 3rd a n d
4th centuries. Evidence of similar burial
plots was seen in 2 0 0 7 in test trenches
on the Butt Road 'Pay & Display' car
park site, where the absence of burials in
the middle of the site implies an e m p t y
plot
in
between
two
separate
cemeteries, the southern one being the
cemetery excavated in 2 0 0 4 , a n d the
northern o n e a new discovery whose
southern extent is defined by a ditch.
Intriguingly, there m a y be a c h r o n o logical t h e m e to these cemetery plots.
Cremation cemeteries of the 1st a n d
2 n d centuries AD t e n d to be located
away f r o m the R o m a n t o w n , whereas
i n h u m a t i o n burials of the 3rd a n d 4 t h
centuries t e n d to be closer. This is
demonstrated by the three sites already
m e n t i o n e d - there were 73 cremations
a n d no inhumations on the sports pitch
site, a n d there were 90 cremations a n d
2 0 7 i n h u m a t i o n s o n the 2 0 0 4 excavation site. T h e trend is c o n f i r m e d by the
Butt Road Police Station site, where a
small 3rd-century c r e m a t i o n cemetery
was followed by a late 3 r d - a n d 4 t h century cemetery with 7 3 4 i n h u m a t i o n s .
W h y is this so? By a r o u n d AD 3 0 0 ,
R o m a n Colchester was shrinking. There
is clear evidence f r o m excavations for
the d e m o l i t i o n of t o w n houses a n d even
areas of suburbs beyond the walls. This
left vacant plots, m a n y of w h i c h reverted
to agriculture. Perhaps these vacant
plots encouraged the establishment of
the later i n h u m a t i o n cemeteries closer
t o the t o w n .
Since Hull's day, we have developed a
greater understanding of the h u g e
variety of burial types. Careful excavation on cemetery sites reveals burnt
patches of earth mixed up with c r e m ated bone. These are 'pyre sites', where
t h e cremation fire t o o k place. O n e
particularly interesting type of pyre site is
the full-body c r e m a t i o n or bustum
(plural busta). These have been recognised at H a n d f o r d House (Colchester
Archaeologist 17) a n d at the Garrison.
In well-preserved busta, the c r e m a t e d
body can drop, more or less in its
articulated position, into an o p e n slot
under the pyre where the remains were
left to rest.
T h e whole issue of burial a n d burial rites
has become m u c h more complex since
Hull's t i m e . We now realise t h a t burials
were not simply i n h u m a t i o n s or c r e m ations,
but included a
range of
apparently o d d types of burials, such as
cremated bone placed into a hole
without a cremation vessel, or perhaps
cremated bone mixed up with a few
potsherds. It seems clear t h a t w h a t went
into a burial d e p e n d e d on h o w m u c h of
the remains were collected f r o m the pyre
site. Was the thoroughness of this
collection a reflection of tradition a n d
the ethnic origin of the mourners? Did
rich people's burials c o n t a i n m a n y pots
a n d carefully collected c r e m a t e d bone,
a n d did poor people have a b u d g e t
burial? Of course, we may never know
the answers to any of these questions.
T h a t is the fascination of archaeology,
the more we dig up, the more questions
we have to ask....
Howard
Brooks
Pictured above a n d on the previous
pages excavating R o m a n graves: Cat
Bell, Brian Hurrell, Nigel Rayner a n d
Mariusz Gorniak.
12
Making up for
the next life
A strange-looking t w o - p a r t object f o u n d in
one of the burials at the Garrison site was
the Roman equivalent of the modern
powder compact. W o m e n ground their
cosmetics in one part of it and applied the
product to their bodies with the other. Nina
Crummy explains how these items were
used and describes the 'look' t h a t m i g h t
have been achieved as a result.
The objects buried with the dead can be
a m o n g the most informative things a n
archaeologist can study, but they c a n
also pose as m a n y questions as they
answer. The objects most often f o u n d in
Roman graves are jewellery, c l o t h i n g , a
pot filled with f o o d or drink for the
journey to the U n d e r w o r l d , a l a m p to
light the way or coins to pay the
ferryman.
Other
things
are
less
c o m m o n l y recovered, a n d one w o m a n ' s
burial
from
Roman
Colchester,
excavated in advance of the A b b e y Field
redevelopment, contained a cosmetic
set, an object w h i c h is not especially rare
in itself but is unusual as a grave
deposit.
Cosmetic sets are copper-alloy t w o piece objects, a crescentic pestle a n d a
grooved mortar. They c o m e in t w o m a i n
forms
and
can
have
decorative
terminals, with no t w o sets being c o m pletely alike. Lumps of coloured mineral
would have been placed into the m o r t a r
a n d g r o u n d to a powder by the pestle,
t h e n applied to the face, or perhaps the
body. They are peculiar to R o m a n
Britain, with only o n e certain find f r o m
France, f o u n d , oddly e n o u g h , near the
entrance t o the C h a n n e l T u n n e l .
T h e r e are m a n y references in c o n t e m p o r a r y literature t o t h e m a k e - u p
used in R o m a n Italy. M o s t favoured was
a white f o u n d a t i o n , m a d e either f r o m
white lead or t h e white excrement of
crocodiles, with rouge a n d kohl used f o r
colouring the cheeks a n d a c c e n t u a t i n g
the eyes. T h e total effect w o u l d have
been quite unsubtle, more like exa g g e r a t e d stage m a k e - u p t h a n the
natural effect a i m e d for these days.
Stone palettes were used for grinding up
cosmetics a n d other beauty preparations, a n d these objects are f o u n d in
Britain as well as on t h e continent.
A l t h o u g h m a n y of the citizens of Britain
m i g h t have followed R o m a n fashions for
painting the face, there are hints t h a t we
were always just t h a t little bit different.
Caesar, O v i d , M a r t i a l a n d Pliny are
a m o n g the R o m a n writers w h o describe
the British as painting their bodies, a n d
it is generally understood t h a t the
specific Latin words they used m e a n t
t h a t the Britons favoured a dye m a d e
f r o m w o a d , Isatis tinctoria. This plant
produces a blue colour, m u c h used by
dyers of textiles, but if old dye is used or
if t h e skin is over-exposed to the
substance, it c a n t u r n black. This may
have often h a p p e n e d , as Pliny describes
h o w the wives of Britons, a n d their
daughters-in-law, looked like Ethiopians
after staining their bodies with a plant
extract.
Unfortunately, so f a r there is no evidence a b o u t w h a t sort of cosmetics were
g r o u n d up in the British metal sets, as no
trace of any mineral has yet been f o u n d
preserved inside a mortar. It is t e m p t i n g
t o i m a g i n e t h a t the w o m a n buried a t
Abbey Field, w h o t o o k her cosmetic set
with her to the grave so t h a t she could
continue to look her best in t h e next life,
m a y have been a Briton w h o had
continued the practice of her ancestors,
but she m i g h t equally well have used
Roman-style cosmetics, grinding t h e m
up in a handy British metal mortar
instead of on a stone palette.
T h e cosmetic set was f o u n d tucked
under t h e skull of an adult. From the
way the t w o parts lay in the g r o u n d , it
looks as if they had been loosely held
together by something like a piece of
string
or
leather
(now
decayed
completely away) t h r e a d e d t h r o u g h the
loops.
Two arches
or one?
The remains of the Roman gate at
Head Gate are surprisingly well
preserved a n d lie o n l y a f o o t or so
below the modern road. A recent
trench for new BT d u c t i n g along
H e a d Street p r o v i d e d a r a r e
opportunity to find out more about
the original appearance of the gate.
H e a d Gate takes its n a m e f r o m the gate
w h i c h used to stand at the Crouch Street
end of H e a d Street, this having been the
chief or head gate of the walled
medieval t o w n . Originally, the H e a d
Gate was one of six gates leading into
the R o m a n t o w n of w h i c h the Balkerne
Gate was the most i m p o r t a n t (perhaps
along with East Gate on the opposite
side of t o w n ) . T h e closure of the
Balkerne Gate in the late R o m a n period
m e a n t t h a t the m a i n route into t o w n
f r o m London a n d the west was t h r o u g h
the Head Gate, hence its n a m e .
R o m a n gates in general varied c o n siderably in plan. T h e largest, like the
Balkerne Gate, consisted of a pair of
archways flanked on either side by a
single smaller archway for pedestrians.
Some gates had just one m a i n archway
rather t h a n t w o a n d some,
like
Duncan's gate in Colchester, consisted
of just a single archway with no separate
provision for pedestrians at all.
H e a d Gate was demolished in 1753
leaving us with little reliable i n f o r m a t i o n
a b o u t its a p p e a r a n c e apart f r o m an
indicative sketch on the Colchester t o w n
plan w h i c h was published just a few
years earlier in M o r a n t ' s History of
Colchester a n d a similar sketch on
Speed's m a p of Colchester w h i c h
a p p e a r e d in 1 6 1 0 . Both show a gate
with just a single a r c h . O t h e r evidence
f o r the gate only having a single a r c h is
to be f o u n d in the records of the Siege of
Colchester where Lord Capel, one of the
royalist generals, is said to have
fastened the gate shut with his c a n e .
Opportunities to investigate t h e site of
the gate have been very rare in the past
w h i c h is not surprising considering t h a t
its remains lie under one of the busiest
roads in the t o w n . In 1 9 8 8 , the Council
replaced the p a v e m e n t surfaces a l o n g
Sir Isaac's W a l k a n d into H e a d Street.
T h e remains of the gate were exposed
because they t u r n e d o u t to be within
a b o u t a f o o t a n d a half of the m o d e r n
street level. This was t h e first real
opportunity t o e x a m i n e the gate a n d t h e
results of this work were described in
The
Colchester Archaeologist for t h a t
year (no 2 ) . A l t h o u g h the investigations
were very limited, it did seem as if the
drawings in M o r a n t a n d Speed were
misleading a n d t h a t t h e gate originally
was of double-arch f o r m .
In 2 0 0 6 , BT needed to lay some major
d u c t i n g along the length of H e a d Street
a n d beyond. T h e contractors, Lowery
Ltd, commissioned t h e Trust to carry out
a w a t c h i n g brief d u r i n g their work
because of t h e archaeological sensitivity
of t h e a r e a . Fortunately D o n Shimmin,
w h o had carried o u t t h e recording work
in 1 9 8 8 , was on h a n d to take up the
challenge once a g a i n .
A p r o b l e m with work of this kind is that
we c a n never k n o w beforehand how
m u c h survives under the streets because
so m u c h has been destroyed with the
laying of services a n d drains of various
kinds in t h e past. W o r k in H e a d Street
started at the north end a n d , f r o m the
outset, t h e w a t c h i n g brief proved very
rewarding with the exposure of various
stretches of R o m a n f o u n d a t i o n s along
t h e east side of the street.
W h e n the trenching reached the site of
t h e gate, it b e c a m e clear t h a t our luck
was in because masonry survived not far
below the m o d e r n g r o u n d level. From
Opposite page. Chris Lister
recording the central pier of the
H e a d Gate in 2 0 0 6 .
Left. D o n S h i m m i n a n d Steve
Benfield excavating the H e a d
Gate in 1 9 8 8 .
Above. T h e plan of Colchester
published in 1 7 4 8 in M o r a n t ' s
History of Colchester. Close-up
of the H e a d Gate below.
Left below. Latest plan of
R o m a n H e a d Gate showing the
two-arched plan.
our work in 1 9 8 8 , it a p p e a r e d t h a t the
trench w o u l d pass t h r o u g h the central
pier of the gate if, as we believed, it had
really been a double-arched structure.
We explained to Lowery t h a t we could of
course record the masonry where it was
to be cut by their t r e n c h , but t h a t we
could m a k e m u c h more sense of w h a t
we were to see if the trench could be
m a d e a bit bigger. Lowery readily
agreed to oblige a n d m a d e the necessary arrangements f o r us to carry out t h e
work on a Saturday so they could cut
their trench on the Sunday w h e n the
street was relatively quiet. We worked
out where the central pier o u g h t to lie if
the gate had indeed been in t h e f o r m of
t w o arches, a n d we m a r k e d out the
position of the enlarged trench on the
street for Lowery to dig out. Fortunately
not only did it all work out well a n d the
central pier t u r n e d up where it was
supposed t o , but the remains t h e m selves proved to be well preserved a n d
the lowest half metre of the base of the
pier t u r n e d out to be intact.
T h e enlarged trench allowed us to
uncover a n d plot three sides of the
central pier. T h e f o u r t h side was not
exposed because the remains of the pier
extended under the western half of the
street where traffic had been reduced to
a single lane. But we needed to find the
position of the west face of t h e pier. This
w o u l d let us to work o u t the position of
t h e centre of the pier exactly a n d thus
enable us to reconstruct the plan of the
w h o l e gate o n the assumption t h a t the
west side of the gate was a mirror i m a g e
of the east side. H o w could we find out?
It was clear f r o m the pattern of the
R o m a n bricks f o r m i n g the corners of the
pier t h a t the west side of the pier could
not have extended very f a r u n d e r the
street, so we decided to m a k e t h e tiniest
of holes in the side of the t r e n c h . It was
like d i g g i n g a little rat hole a l o n g the
face of t h e pier. We g r o p e d our way
along the face f o r t h e distance of a b o u t
4 0 0 m m until i t stopped a n d w e could
feel the corner. Could this be a first archaeological excavation by t o u c h !
So the plan as reconstructed in 1988
proved to be right (but with a few m i n o r
corrections) a n d R o m a n H e a d Gate
seems to have been a double-arched
structure afterall. But we a p p e a r to have
a conflict of evidence here - M o r a n t ,
Speed a n d Lord Capel tell us that
between 1 6 1 0 a n d its demolition in
1753 there was o n e arch whereas the
R o m a n remains in the g r o u n d indicate
there had been t w o .
T h e d o u b l e - a r c h e d plan neatly spans
the full width of H e a d Street as we know
it t o d a y suggesting t h a t the gate in this
f o r m a n d the street (its post-Roman
version) were c o n t e m p o r a r y . In other
words, it looks as if w h e n H e a d Street
was laid out, perhaps in the 10th century
or so, the R o m a n gate was still in its
original t w o - a r c h e d f o r m a n d t h a t its
reduction to a single a r c h must have
h a p p e n e d some t i m e later but before
1 6 1 0 . T h e most obvious t i m e for such a
radical alteration w o u l d be a r o u n d 1 4 0 0
w h e n t h e walls of t h e t o w n were
extensively repaired a n d refurbished.
But this is guesswork, a n d we need to
wait for further chances to investigate
t h e gate to see if this puzzle c a n be
solved.
Philip
Crummy
15
Roman archaeology
A s h o r t d i s t a n c e s o u t h o f C o l c h e s t e r C a s t l e lie t h e
well-preserved remains of a m o n u m e n t a l entrance into
what had been the precinct of the great T e m p l e of
Claudius. Luckily t h e f o u n d a t i o n s o f t h e e n t r a n c e a n d
t h e massive a r c a d e d screen of w h i c h it was part were
inadvertently preserved by t h e N o r m a n builders of t h e
c a s t l e w h e n t h e y p i l e d u p a g r e a t b a n k o f soil o v e r t h e
ruined remains to m a k e a defensive b a n k a r o u n d the
castle bailey. T h e degree of preservation a n d t h e
importance of the buildings which stood there m e a n
t h a t any trenches or holes in this part of t o w n are b o u n d
to prove extremely interesting. Recently there were t w o
opportunities for investigations in the area. D o n
S h i m m i n describes s o m e of t h e f i n d i n g s .
16
T h e east end of the H i g h Street was diverted southwards in the
late 11 th century to m a k e r o o m f o r the castle bailey ditch (The
Colchester Archaeologist 14, 1 5 - 1 7 ) . T h e curve in the road
c a n still be seen today, a l t h o u g h the ditch was later backfilled
a n d built over. While t h e d i g g i n g of the ditch destroyed
underlying R o m a n remains, the construction of the N o r m a n
r a m p a r t behind t h e ditch helped to preserve t h e m . In
particular the south side of the precinct of the Temple of
Claudius was b o u n d e d by a w a l l , w h i c h despite N o r m a n
robbing survived well b e n e a t h the rampart.
Excavations in 1 9 3 1 , 1953 a n d 1 9 6 4 uncovered parts of this
w a l l . It consisted of a large a r c a d e d screen with half-engaged
c o l u m n s to the front a n d rear of the piers, a n d was probably
originally at least 8 m high. T h e 1931 excavation revealed the
remains of the west side of a m o n u m e n t a l arch centrallyplaced in the south wall (see above illustration). T h e remains
lay only a f o o t below the m o d e r n g r o u n d level, a n d to the
south were traces of t w o large R o m a n drains.
In 2 0 0 6 it was possible to e x a m i n e parts of this area a g a i n on
a small scale. On t h e east side of the narrow m o d e r n street
known as Crowther's Entry (after a previous owner), several
evaluation trenches were d u g in advance of a proposed
redevelopment. These revealed a large s t o n e - a n d - m o r t a r
f o u n d a t i o n , 1.6 m below the m o d e r n g r o u n d level. T h e south
face of the f o u n d a t i o n was uncovered, a l t h o u g h it was not
possible to locate the northern edge. This was probably part of
the f o u n d a t i o n f o r the arch where t h e carriageway passed
under it.
The m o n u m e n t a l arch was a b o u t 8 m wide a n d was f a c e d with
tufa. This easily-worked stone was probably b r o u g h t by sea
from quarries near the the H a m p s h i r e coast. Across the f r o n t
of the arch it is likely t h a t there was an inscription, perhaps
recording Claudius' role in t h e conquest of Britain. Evidence
from elsewhere suggests t h a t the R o m a n circus at Colchester
was closely linked to the Imperial Cult (emperor worship), a n d
circuses a n d temples were sometimes part of t h e same
complex as at T a r r a g o n a in Spain. A l t h o u g h in Colchester the
circus and the T e m p l e of Claudius were some 7 0 0 m apart, on
race days a procession of priests a n d officials probably passed
under the arch on their way to t h e circus (The Colchester
Archaeologist, 18, 14).
Further R o m a n remains were uncovered 0.9 m below t h e
modern g r o u n d level on t h e west side of Crowther's Entry in
December 2 0 0 6 during rebuilding work. T h e north side of a
well-preserved drain was traced for 7.5 m. It was constructed
of Roman brick set in a hard pinkish m o r t a r (opus signinum).
The drain probably lay between t h e precinct wall a n d an
east-west street, w h i c h had been destroyed w h e n the Castle
Bailey ditch was d u g .
The recent work has enabled the location a n d d e p t h of t h e
Roman arch a n d nearby remains to be plotted m o r e
accurately, a n d thus the i m p a c t of any future redevelopment
can be assessed with more confidence.
Above left. Artist's impression (Peter Froste) of the m o n u m e n t a l
arch which led into the precinct of the T e m p l e of Claudius.
Above. The 2 0 0 6 excavation in progress in Crowther's Entry.
Above right. T h e R o m a n drain as uncovered late in 2 0 0 6 in a yard
off Crowther's Entry. Only the southern half of the drain is exposed.
The vertical face visible in the p h o t o g r a p h w o u l d have been buried
in Roman times w h e n the drain was in use.
Right. Conjectural reconstruction of a cross section t h r o u g h t h e
drain.
17
Roman remains new views
Howard
Brooks
Redevelopment work in
Colchester
sometimes opens up views w h i c h have
never been seen before. T h e d e m o l i t i o n
of the Mercury Flats has allowed the
unusual view shown below right of the
Mercury Theatre. Appropriately, the
figure of Mercury himself is seen on the
corner of the theatre building.
T h e Mercury Flats was part of the
Balkerne Gardens residential h o m e . T h e
h o m e occupies a prime piece of t h e
R o m a n t o w n , situated immediately
north east of the Balkerne G a t e , in
Insulas 17a a n d 17b of the R o m a n
t o w n . A l t h o u g h there has never been the
large-scale excavation which the site
deserves, various w a t c h i n g briefs a n d
trial trenches over recent decades have
brought to light fragments of the R o m a n
buildings which once occupied the site.
R o m a n coin hoards were f o u n d here in
1965 a n d 1977.
Plans for redevelopment triggered a
small evaluation in 2 0 0 5 , a n d a
w a t c h i n g brief in 2 0 0 6 on the new
building a n d its drains. As expected,
various R o m a n wall lines, floors, a n d
gravel surfaces have c o m e to light.
Loose finds were plentiful, a n d included
a significant quantity of late R o m a n
pottery. The new scheme was designed
so t h a t the disturbance to the underlying
archeological remains w o u l d be as
limited as possible. T h e result is t h a t the
interesting and well-preserved R o m a n
remains on the site survive for future
generations to examine.
The recording and investigations were funded by
the Balkerne Gardens Trust. The architects who
commissioned the work were Stanley Bragg.
Above right: J u m b o looms over the Balkerne
Gardens residential h o m e . T h e trenches visible are
new drain lines for the rebuilt Mercury Flats.
Right: Will Clarke recording R o m a n strata in the
builder's trenches with Mercury just visible in t h e
background perched on the Mercury Theatre.
The lost
church
of the
Crossed
Friars
C r o u c h Street is a r e l a t i v e l y
quiet street today. But it was
not so long ago t h a t it was at
one e n d of t h e r o a d b e t w e e n
C o l c h e s t e r a n d L o n d o n . For
travellers f r o m t h a t g r e a t
city, a l a n d m a r k a t t h e e n d
of their journal w o u l d been
the church of the friary of the
Crossed Friars. S t e p h e n
Benfield d e s c r i b e s h o w
r e c e n t w o r k on a b u i l d i n g site
has led t o t h e d i s c o v e r y o f
the long-lost church.
Standing outside shops in Crouch Street
and looking across the r o a d , there is not
usually m u c h to see. However, I as write
this account, hoardings where Cash
Converters used to be, proclaim t h e
imminent arrival of a new development
of flats. Above this you are d r a w n to look
up at the crane towering over the site. By
coincidence, six hundred years a g o in
the Middle Ages, people passing along
what is now Crouch Street w o u l d also
have been d r a w n to look up at almost
exactly t h a t same spot. There, reaching
up to a b o u t the t o p of the Birkett Long's
offices, they w o u l d have been gazing up
at the tower of the church of the Crossed
Friars.
It seems remarkable that, of t h e f o u r
medieval religious houses f o u n d e d in
Colchester, little t o d a y remains to be
seen. T h e ruined of part of t h e church of
St Botolph's Priory c a n still be visited.
There is the restored gatehouse of St
John's Abbey, a l t h o u g h nothing of t h e
abbey itself remains. T h e area of Grey
Friars is still c o m m e m o r a t e d in the
n a m e of Grey Friars College (but see pp
2 4 - 5 below). Crossed Friars is probably
the most obscure of all these houses a n d
is now all but invisible in the m o d e r n
t o w n . However, there is one lasting
m e m o r i a l of the house of the Crossed
Friars, a l t h o u g h this is not immediately
obvious, the n a m e Crouch Street.
Crouch is an old word for cross, a n d the
Crossed Friars were also k n o w n as the
Crouched Friars. Crouch Street is in
effect Cross Street a n d is n a m e d after
the friary t h a t once stood there.
Excavation a n d recording by the Trust
on behalf of Bellway H o m e s , during the
redevelopment of t h e f o r m e r Cash
Converters site has allowed part of t h e
remains of the Crossed Friars church to
be identified. In c o n j u n c t i o n with earlier
excavations, m u c h of the g r o u n d plan of
the church can now be pieced together.
Distant b r e t h r e n : crouched friars in
Crouched Friars, L o n d o n .
The Crossed Friars and Colchester
T h e n a m e , Crutched, Crouched or
Crossed Friars comes f r o m the physical
a p p e a r a n c e of the brothers. Each of the
friars carried a w o o d e n staff t h a t had a
cross on the t o p of it, a n d each h a d a red
cross of cloth sewn on to his habit. T h e
habit was originally brown or black in
colour, but was later c h a n g e d to blue.
They were a M e n d i c a n t order, which
means t h a t they begged a n d relied on
charitable donations for their income
a n d support. Their m a i n concern was
caring for the poor a n d needy, helping
to look after both body a n d soul.
T h e origin of the Crossed Friars is uncertain. They c l a i m e d a middle-eastern
f o u n d a t i o n of the 1 st century A D , but
19
were later reconstituted in 4 t h century
Jerusalem. They were in Italy in the 12th
century w h e n Pope Alexander III gave
t h e m a constitution a n d a rule of life
similar to t h a t of the better k n o w n
Augustinian order. A rule is a guide in
the f o r m of a set of ideals of how to live a
religious life, of which the rule of St
Augustine, written in a b o u t AD 4 0 0 , is
one of t h e earliest. In England, t h e
Crossed Friars first a p p e a r at the synod
of the diocese of Rochester in 1 2 4 4 .
They may have c o m e to Colchester as
early as the following year, a l t h o u g h the
first secure record of t h e order in
Colchester refers to 1 2 5 1 . At t h a t t i m e
they occupied a hospital a n d chapel
buildings at Crouch Street, established
for t h e m by the Lords of Stanway. T h e
Crossed Friars were not a large order in
England, and a small n u m b e r of houses
were established in this country at
Colchester, London, Reigate, O x f o r d ,
York, Great W e l t h a m and B a r n h a m
(Suffolk), Wotton-under-Edge (Gloucestershire), Brackley ( N o r t h a m p t o n shire) and Kildale (Yorkshire).
By 1401 the friary at Colchester had
fallen on hard times, a n d parts of the
church (the nave, chancel a n d bell
tower) were in need of repair. It m a y
have been at a b o u t this t i m e , a n d on
a c c o u n t of poverty, t h a t the Crossed
20
Friars lost control of the premises as it is
recorded as being at this t i m e a free
chapel or hospital. T h e poverty of the
Colchester house c a n be contrasted with
the
more
affluent
London
friary
established in 1 2 4 9 at T o w e r Hill. This
lay directly at t h e other end of the road
between London a n d Colchester (the
Colchester friary being at the Colchester
end). T h e location of the L o n d o n house
is still called Crutched Friars. In 1 3 4 2 the
L o n d o n Friars were seeking a c c o m m o d a t i o n f o r thirteen of their brothers to
study at Oxford University, a n d in 1 3 5 0
were also building a new c h a p e l . This
wealth appears to have been achieved
by slow acquisitions of grants a n d
purchases of property. However, it
seems t h a t not all of their wealth was
being accrued above b o a r d . There are
records of 1 3 4 9 of L o n d o n friars
involved w i t h robbery a n d in 1391 of
abetting a m a n w h o had stolen property
f r o m the house of t h e Bishop of Bath
a n d Wells. At Colchester financial help
was o b t a i n e d in 1403 f r o m the Bishop of
L o n d o n w h o helped to revive t h e
fortunes of the religious establishment.
Incidentally this also led to the disclosure
of an
interesting f a c t a b o u t t h e
possessions of the friary. At t h a t t i m e a
list of their possessions was d r a w n up
a n d a m o n g these was a relic believed to
Excavations in progress uncovering the
tops of the c h u r c h f o u n d a t i o n s .
be a piece of w o o d f r o m the holy cross.
However, we k n o w t h a t the Crossed
Friars were no longer in control of the
establishment at t h a t t i m e a n d in 1407
a guild of St Helen was f o u n d e d in the
c h u r c h . However, in 1496 the Crossed
Friars, after producing papal bulls and
other evidence, were able to reclaim the
church a n d hospital. At a b o u t this time,
in t h e later 15th century, it was recorded
t h a t there were t w o chapels and a
hospital on the site. In 1526 an m a n
accused of murder, W i l l i a m Gilbank,
c l a i m e d sanctuary in the c h u r c h . He was
sheltered in t h e choir near the high alter
a n d w o u l d not be surrendered by the
friars.
However, by the early 16th century the
days of t h e great medieval religious
houses, large a n d small, were n u m bered. M o s t were to fall a n d their
property to be sold off, during the
dissolution. T h e w e a l t h of m a n y made
t h e m attractive targets f o r the king.
T h e i r despised reputations for good
living a n d loss of religious zeal made
t h e m easy targets - one only has to think
of the well-fed friar in Robin H o o d . This
in many ways, rather t h a n the d e a t h of
Richard III at Bosworth in 1485, was the
real end of medieval England. In 1538
the buildings a n d estates of the Crossed
Friars were granted to a Sir T h o m a s
Audley. It was shortly after this t i m e t h a t
illustrations representing w h a t survived
of Crouched Friars first a p p e a r on m a p s ,
the earliest of these being in 1 6 1 0 . In
1637 Crouched Friars was purchased by
Sir Harbottle Grimstone, m e m b e r of
Parliament for Colchester. Sir Harbottle
converted the site into a house a n d it is
probable t h a t any surviving parts of the
church w o u l d have been demolished at
this t i m e . T h e c h u r c h w o u l d have had
little part to play in c o m f o r t a b l e secular
dwellings t h a t usually m a d e more use of
ancillary buildings of f o r m e r religious
houses. However, Sir Harbottle was not
able to enjoy his possession f o r very
long. In 1648 Royalist soldiers occupied
the house during the siege. It was
b o m b a r d e d a n d assaulted by the Parliamentarian a r m y forcing o u t t h e
Royalists w h o in retreat set it ablaze,
destroying t h e house. In 1 7 0 0 a workhouse was established on t h e site a n d it
is recorded t h a t this building was mostly
of a new construction.
saving on t h e expense
mortared foundations.
of
entirely
The
ground
plan
could
not
be
completely
recovered
because the
digging of various trenches coupled with
various other groundworks over the
years had d a m a g e d parts of t h e site.
However, various gaps could be filled in
using one's i m a g i n a t i o n so as to try to
understand the plan. Initially it seemed
t h a t there m i g h t be several buildings,
a n d t h a t understanding the plan f r o m
t h e f r a g m e n t s m i g h t prove difficult.
T h e n , a b o u t the m i d d l e of t h e west side
of the site, t w o massive square f o u n d ation bases a p p e a r e d . Unlike the other
f o u n d a t i o n s these were constructed
entirely of m o r t a r e d rubble a n d must
have been built to support a great
weight A s s u m i n g t h a t these large bases
were a symmetrical pair within a
building, t h e other wall f o u n d a t i o n s
could be viewed in relation to t h e m .
Also, the current archaeological work is
not the first t i m e t h a t t h e Trust has been
able to investigate the site of t h e
religious house of the Crossed Friars. In
1 9 8 8 , D o n S h i m m i n led a small rescue
excavation on the site of w h a t is now
Birkett L o n g , solicitors. This revealed
parts of a medieval b u i l d i n g , including
t w o large parallel wall f o u n d a t i o n s
extending east to west across t h a t site.
Bringing all this i n f o r m a t i o n together, it
was at this point t h a t the archaeological
penny d r o p p e d . W h a t we were uncovering was the east end of a large
medieval c h u r c h building, a n d the large
f o u n d a t i o n bases were the southeast
a n d northeast supports of a tower above
t h e crossing. To the north a n d south of
this were the remains of the t w o
transepts a n d to the east we had the
south wall of the chancel. T w o gaps in
the f o u n d a t i o n s , t h o u g h t t o indicate that
the f o u n d a t i o n s were of separate
buildings, could now be seen to be the
site of doorways. These doors must have
been p l a n n e d w h e n the c h u r c h f o u n d ations were built. T h e large f o u n d a t i o n s
D o n S h i m m i n h a d recorded in 1988
fitted in perfectly with this interpretation:
these were clearly parts of the walls of
the nave. This means t h a t the remains
of the west end of the c h u r c h must be lie
somewhere beneath w h a t is n o w Tesco.
A n u m b e r of other sections of f o u n d ation recorded since, indicate t h a t there
was probably a chapel a t t a c h e d to the
north side of the c h a n c e l . Also there are
indications of other buildings to the
north-east of the m a i n c h u r c h . A
f o u n d a t i o n , running under the Dulux
shop, at the northeast corner of the site,
The church of the Crossed Friars
In present day Crouch Street, t h e
construction m e t h o d being used for the
new flats, as with m a n y m o d e r n
buildings, consists of deep concrete piles
joined together by concrete g r o u n d
beams.
Preparation for this w o r k
involved the clearing away of the last
remains of the Cash Converters building
and the reduction of the g r o u n d level
over parts of the site. This was so t h a t a
layer of hard standing could be laid f o r
the large piling m a c h i n e to operate on
without sinking into the g r o u n d . T h e
construction process was designed to
minimise the i m p a c t on the underlying
remains. Even so, it was during the
reduction of the g r o u n d level t h a t the
Trust was able to record sections of
medieval f o u n d a t i o n exposed on t h e
west side of the site. As t h e m a c h i n e
worked rapidly across the site f r o m the
Southway side towards Crouch Street, a
small t e a m f r o m the Trust was soon
hard at work chasing the surviving
sections of t h e f o u n d a t i o n s . These
consisted of t w o parts. T h e tops were
mortared stone a n d tile rubble, w i t h
facing stones in some places. T h e lower
part was thin layers of r a m m e d earth,
alternating with t h i n layers of either
mortar or gravel, in the f o u n d a t i o n
trench below. This lower part was
presumably a cost cutting measure,
The remains of the base of a tiled floor
in the c h u r c h . Loose tiles exactly m a t c h
the impressions of missing tiles in the
mortar base of the floor.
21
could be part of a building or part of a
boundary wall t h a t is indicated on t h e
early maps.
The site of the church had been reduced
in the past to the tops of the medieval
foundations with the result t h a t very little
of the floor levels now survived. H o w ever, not quite everything of the later
medieval layers had g o n e . O n e small
area of mortar was uncovered in t h e
south transept t h a t had t h e curious
imprint of rough squares in its surface.
This was t h o u g h t possibly to be render
collapsed f r o m a wall or vault. However,
as so often in archaeology, t h e true
identity of this only b e c a m e a p p a r e n t
slightly later. M a n y churches have areas
of tiled flooring, often set in a d i a m o n d
pattern in relation to the orientation of
the church. This was exactly t h e
a l i g n m e n t here with the imprint of the
squares. Later some plain glazed tiles
were f o u n d which exactly fitted the
imprints, although these were not
necessarily the original tiles f r o m this
floor. This shows t h a t the floor of the
south transept was m a d e of tiles,
presumably glazed, set in a d i a m o n d
pattern. This f r a g m e n t of floor had
survived as, fortunately, it must have
sunk below the level of the rest of the
floor surface before t h a t was removed.
Areas of probable mortar floor, but
w i t h o u t any tile impressions, were
22
uncovered sunk into an earlier feature in
t h e north transept. Also there were t w o
phases of plain m o r t a r flooring in the
c h a n c e l . T h e floor level in the chancel
must either have been lower t h a n t h a t in
the area of the crossing a n d transepts or
possibly the floors there represent an
earlier phase of a building pre-dating
the main church.
Above. Conjectural impression of the
parts of the c h u r c h f o u n d on the
excavation site. View seen f r o m the
north side of Crouch Street with Birkett
Long's to the i m m e d i a t e right.
As
construction
work
progressed,
m a c h i n e excavation b e g a n a g a i n f o r the
concrete g r o u n d - b e a m s . O n the south
of the site, this revealed little of interest,
but once work began on t h e west side of
the site, in the area of the c h u r c h
b u i l d i n g , everything c h a n g e d . A l m o s t
i m m e d i a t e l y h u m a n bones b e g a n t o
appear. It soon b e c a m e a p p a r e n t t h a t
near the surface most of this bone had
been disturbed a n d was loose in the
backfill of other features, but lower
d o w n there were articulated bones t h a t
were in situ burials. T h e plan of t h e new
building m e a n t t h a t t w o areas on the
west of the site could be investigated,
a n d in all a b o u t 60 burials were
recorded f r o m these areas. All the
burials were oriented east to west, with
t h e head at the west end of the grave,
a n d there were no indications of any
coffins or of objects placed in the graves.
T h e burials were set out in north-south
rows with some cutting earlier ones. In
m a n y cases where one cut another, t h e
Right below. H i g h level p h o t o g r a p h of
t h e site by Van-Cols Ltd showing the
remains of the c h u r c h . T a k e n f r o m the
north. T h e orientation matches the
plan a n d p h o t o g r a p h above.
Right. Plan of the c h u r c h . N o r t h is to
the b o t t o m of the plan to m a t c h the
orientation of the p h o t o g r a p h above.
disturbed bones were re-buried loose to
o n e side of the later burial. All of the
burials were f o u n d in the transepts or in
between the north transept a n d the
Crouch Street f r o n t a g e . N o n e were
discovered south of t h e c h u r c h or east of
the transepts.
D o n had f o u n d similar closely-packed
burials on t h e 1988 site (Birkett Long)
just to the north of f o u n d a t i o n s t h a t we
n o w realise f o r m e d part of the nave.
Also there is a record f r o m 1928 of the
discovery of m a n y burials in the area of
t h e nave itself. As yet there is no
specialist report on the bones f r o m the
2 0 0 7 excavation. However, it is obvious
from the size of some of t h e skeletons
that not all of the burials are adults as
some are so small t h a t they must have
been children. Clearly these are not the
remains of brothers of the friary. In 1 4 0 2
a grant was m a d e to t h e chapel f o r
burial of the inhabitants of t h e neighbouring parts of Crouch Street a n d
Maldon
Lane,
and
this
probably
explains the presence of children. But
even so, it is clearly not a straightforward
matter to establish w h o was buried
where. There m a y f o r e x a m p l e be
burials associated with the hospital a n d
chapel which predated the friary. Given
this, the archaeological d e v e l o p m e n t of
the site is likely to have been quite
complicated,
and
many
questions
remain unanswered. However, the lost
church of the Crossed Friars has n o w
been f o u n d
and
we
now
know
significantly more a b o u t w h a t was once
an obscure monastic site in the t o w n .
The excavations on the site of Crouched Friars
were carried out on behalf of Bellway Homes
who funded the work.
23
The lost friary of
Grey Friars
There were two friaries in medieval Colchester:
Grey Friars which, not surprisingly, was where
Grey Friars College of A d u l t Education now
stands, and Crouched Friars, which stood on
the south side of Crouch Street. Not much is
known about either of t h e m , and opportunities
for site investigations are limited. So it was
quite a coincidence to find ourselves working
on the sites of both establishments almost at
the same time.
Grey friars followed the rule of St Francis
of Assisi, a n d they wore a grey tunic with
a white cord (hence their n a m e ) . By the
t i m e St Francis died in 1 2 2 6 , t h e order
had spread f r o m Italy to all over Europe
including Britain.
T h e friary at Colchester was f o u n d e d in
the early 13th century sometime before
1237. In c o m m o n with t h e other
monastic institutions in England, it was
closed in the early 16th century a n d the
land a n d buildings were confiscated a n d
disposed of. By this stage, the friary
lands had been extended to include all
of the north-east corner of the walled
area of the t o w n . T h e property was
b o u n d e d on the north a n d east sides by
the t o w n wall, on the south side by the
street later k n o w n as Friar Street (now
the eastern end of the H i g h Street), a n d
the west side by the castle lands.
T h e friary buildings gradually disappeared so t h a t by t h e late 18th
century, n o t h i n g of the friary survived
above g r o u n d . Unfortunately records
are sparse. However, it is clear t h a t t h e
friary had included a c h u r c h , an
infirmary, a hall, some lodgings, a
kitchen, a bakery, a brewery, gardens, a
gatehouse, a precinct wall a l o n g the
south side of the friary, a n d at least t w o
fish ponds.
Little is k n o w n a b o u t t h e layout of the
buildings, a n d until recently the exact
position of t h e c h u r c h a n d the m a i n
friary buildings is uncertain other t h a n
the f a c t t h a t t h e complex lay somewhere
north of t h e H i g h Street f r o n t a g e .
However, there were some clues, a n d
the best of these is a sketch d r a w n by
W i l l i a m Stukeley in 1 7 1 8 . Stukeley is a
well-known a n t i q u a r i a n w h o travelled
the country d r a w i n g f a m o u s historical
buildings a n d other landmarks. In
Colchester, he also sketched the castle,
St Botolph's Priory a n d the earthworks
on Lexden h e a t h . His sketch of the Grey
Friars shows a line of ruined buildings.
These a p p e a r to include part of the
c h u r c h at t h e far end with a gabled
house or lodgings just beyond. T h e ruins
seem to correspond with a north-south
line of ruined buildings shown on the
m a p of t h e t o w n in Philip M o r a n t ' s
history
of
Colchester
which
was
published in 1 7 4 8 . Immediately in front
of t h e ? c h u r c h on Stukeley's sketch
there appears to be the remains of the
cloisters with more buildings (presumably the m a i n living area) in the centre
a n d f o r e g r o u n d . N o n e of these remains
a p p e a r in the subsequent t o w n m a p of
1 7 7 7 suggesting t h a t they must have
been demolished s o m e t i m e a r o u n d the
m i d d l e of the 18th century.
However, an interesting a n d detailed
plan survives of the site in 1 8 4 7 when
most of the friary land had been used as
a botanical g a r d e n a n d was soon to be
sold off for t h e R o m a n Road a n d Castle
Road development. This plan is of
interest partly because it was annotated
by W i l l i a m Wire (Colchester's first
archaeologist) w h o recorded on it a
discovery of skeletons in the kitchen
g a r d e n . T h e plan shows a curious
square feature in the g a r d e n which is
reminiscent of the ?cloister in Stukeley's
d r a w i n g . Could this be a relic of the
friary cloister or was it simply a fancy
part of the Botanic Garden? It certainly
Above. Stukeley's sketch of Grey Friars
in 1 7 1 8 .
Left. Part of the supposed f o u n d a t i o n
of t h e c h u r c h of Grey Friars friary
exposed in early 2 0 0 7 .
24
appears to be in the right place f o r the
cloister. Most importantly the plan is
dimensioned w h i c h means t h a t we can
do something not possible with any of
the earlier plans - we can work out the
exact location of t h a t square a n d thus fix
on the g r o u n d the likely position of the
church assuming, of course, t h a t t h e
remains of it really do a p p e a r on
Stukeley's sketch.
These conclusions were m a d e as a
result of a study of the site c o m m e d by
the Essex County Council w h e n t h e
future of the Grey Friars college was
being considered. As part of this
process, the County Council also asked
the Trust to investigate the college site
to establish w h a t i m p a c t any redevelopm e n t might have on the buried remains
there. This m e a n t digging trenches to
test the most likely location of the friary
buildings to see if any archaeological
remains still survived. Several trenches
were d u g in key positions in the car park
at the rear of the college. Four were on
the site of the kitchen g a r d e n to see if
the cemetery described by William Wire
could be f o u n d , a n d the t w o others were
located on the likely site of the c h u r c h .
No burials were discovered but at least a
displaced f r a g m e n t of h u m a n skull
suggests the presence of graves in the
vicinity. However, better luck was h a d
with the other trenches because in one
of those, right where the remains of the
church should be, was f o u n d part of a
large east-west f o u n d a t i o n . T h e f o u n d at ion appeared to be 2.4 m wide w h i c h ,
given its w i d t h , could hardly be anything
other t h a n part of the c h u r c h itself. Very
little of the building was exposed it is
true, but it looks as t h o u g h we f o u n d
church of Grey Friars after all. Little did
we know at the t i m e t h a t we were very
soon to find the t o w n ' s other friary
c h u r c h - the one at Crouched Friars.
Philip
Crummy
Above. Plan of the f o r m e r lands of Grey
Friars d a t e d 1 8 4 7 a n d a n n o t a t e d by
William Wire. Reproduced courtesy of
the Essex Record Office.
Above centre. Extract of the t o w n plan in
M o r a n t ' s history of Colchester published
1748.
The desk-based assessment and subsequent
evaluation were carried out by Kate Orr for the
Essex County Council.
25
Off to church...
K a t e O r r gets o u t i n t o t h e Essex c o u n t r y s i d e a n d
d e s c r i b e s her w o r k i n t h r e e v i l l a g e c h u r c h e s .
St Barnabas' Church,
Alphamstone
T h e Essex village of A l p h a m s t o n e lies
nestled in a quiet corner of t h e Stour
Valley. Like most parish churches, St
Barnabas' is steeped in history. However
t h e is more enigmatic t h a n most a n d
even its original dedication is not k n o w n .
Of the church building standing today,
most elements date f r o m medieval
times. The nave is t h o u g h t to be t h e
earliest surviving part, being N o r m a n or
Saxon. But the history of t h e site
stretches back further back t h a n this.
T h e churchyard stands as a p l a t f o r m
above the surrounding fields. M a n y
sarsen stones have been gathered up in
the area a n d are distributed in a n d
a b o u t the churchyard, which has led
some to speculate t h a t they once
f o r m e d part of a prehistoric stone circle.
O n e large sarsen has actually been
incorporated into the church f o u n d ations a n d c a n be seen in the interior,
projecting f r o m under t h e south-west
corner of t h e nave. Stone circles are a
p h e n o m e n o n o f t h e Neolithic a n d
Bronze A g e a n d were often surrounded
by burials. Early Bronze A g e burial urns
have been f o u n d within the churchyard
a n d in the surrounding fields, a n d their
presence adds weight to the theory t h a t
there was a stone circle here. Prehistoric
sites m a y have retained their sanctity
into the Christian Saxon period, a n d
there is the probability t h a t upstanding
barrows
(containing
burials)
were
respected by the church builders if only
o u t of sheer superstition. Alternatively
the establishment of the church building
Above. St Barnabas' c h u r c h , A l p h a m s t o n e . Viewed f r o m t h e south-east.
Right. Some of the sarcen stones outside St Barnabas' c h u r c h . These m a y be the
remains of a prehistoric m o n u m e n t consisting of standing stones.
here m a y have been a deliberate
a t t e m p t to Christianise a p a g a n site.
A n o t h e r d i m e n s i o n to the site is the
presence of a R o m a n villa adjacent to
the churchyard as well as the findings of
Iron A g e a n d R o m a n pottery in the
churchyard itself. Certainly there has
been continuous use of the site for
4 , 0 0 0 years.
As an archaeological complex, A l p h a m stone church a n d graveyard must rank
a m o n g s t the most i m p o r t a n t in Essex,
a n d we therefore w e l c o m e d the opportunity to dig some test pits there in
M a r c h 2 0 0 7 . M o v e m e n t o f the chancel
arch p r o m p t e d an investigation into the
causes. This involved t a k i n g a look at
the f o u n d a t i o n s a n d recording any
burials or other features at the exterior of
the nave on the northern side.
St A n d r e w ' s c h u r c h , Marks Tey T h e missing grave slab of
Robert de Teye a n d his wife Katherine. T h e brasses w h i c h
where set in the stone were removed m a n y years a g o a n d are
now lost.
T h e limited excavations revealed t h a t
the nave f o u n d a t i o n s had been cut into
earlier features including a grave. T h e
a l i g n m e n t of the skeleton was east-west
which indicates a Christian burial. T h e
fact t h a t the nave dates f r o m at least t h e
12th century means t h a t the grave was
earlier t h a n this, presumably Late Saxon
or early N o r m a n . Despite these clues as
to w h a t was here before the building of
the c h u r c h , the site remains a bit of a
mystery.
St Giles' Church, Great
Maplestead
C A T were
called
in
to
monitor
renovations of the tower a n d the
addition of a new toilet at St Giles'
Church in Great Maplestead in 2 0 0 6
a n d 2 0 0 7 . T h e earliest parts of t h e
c h u r c h , ie the apse a n d tower, a p p e a r to
have been constructed in the 12th
century. M o s t of t h e middle portions
have been rebuilt or altered by the
addition of aisles a n d transepts. It is
considered to be an i m p o r t a n t example
of a four-celled N o r m a n c h u r c h . H o w ever, it has been suggested t h a t its
structural history is rather more c o m plicated. For example, all the N o r m a n
elements may not be of one build, a n d it
is not known why the tower is out of
alignment. Like St Barnabas', it is possible t h a t St Giles' Church is late A n g l o Saxon in origin. A f r a g m e n t of A n g l o Saxon interlaced stonework is preserved
on the north-east w i n d o w sill in the
south transept. Earthworks, possibly
m a n - m a d e , can be seen within the
churchyard
and
supposed
Roman
burials have been reported as being
f o u n d u n d e r t h e north aisle a n d in the
adjoining vicarage.
Floor reduction of the tower exposed
the flint f o u n d a t i o n s t o the tower a n d
nave. These suggest t h a t the tower a n d
the nave were of o n e build. A short
stretch of f o o t i n g trench for the new
toilet to t h e east of the south porch
(formerly a store) did disturb some
disarticulated
human
bones.
Contractors had to remove part of t h e
eastern wall of the south porch in order
to create a doorway into the new toilet.
This involved removing t h e stone plaque
c o m m e m o r a t i n g those w h o died in the
First World War. On removal of the
plaque, a w i n d o w was exposed still with
its glass panes. Presumably this w i n d o w
is c o n t e m p o r a r y with the south porch
a n d is thus 14th century. T h e w i n d o w
had to be removed temporarily but is to
be put back into the new toilet wall. T h e
plaque has been m o u n t e d on the west
wall of t h e south transept.
St Andrews church, Marks Tey
St Andrews C h u r c h , Marks is a n o t h e r
interesting c h u r c h , noticeable because
of its u n c o m m o n w o o d e n tower. At t h e
end of 2 0 0 6 , a w a t c h i n g brief was
carried out by C A T during lowering of
the floor levels in t h e nave a n d c h a n c e l .
T h e nave is N o r m a n or earlier with
R o m a n brick dressings, a n d t h e chancel
dates to the 14th century. It is possible
t h a t the c h u r c h lies on a R o m a n site, but
essentially its potential is u n k n o w n . T h e
w a t c h i n g brief a d d e d some interesting
details, firstly a stub of septaria
f o u n d a t i o n revealed under the present
chancel a r c h . This may m a r k the
position of an earlier east e n d , or an
earlier a n d narrower chancel arch. Four
vaults were exposed in t h e chancel.
These are almost certainly associated
with f o u r t o m b slabs w h i c h had recently
been stored in t h e west tower; one
belonging to Rev Peter W r i g h t (died
1839) a n d the others to m e m b e r s of the
Bree family (died 1 7 4 0 , 1753 a n d
1 7 6 1 ) . A n u m b e r of objects were f o u n d
under the old c h u r c h floorboards. O n e
was a very fine Purbeck m a r b l e t o m b
slab with the indent of a missing brass.
M a r t i n Stuchfield has identified this as
the missing slab of Robert de Teye a n d
wife Katherine (dated 1 3 6 0 ) , whose
missing inscription is recorded by Philip
M o r a n t in his history of Essex in 1 7 6 8 .
Also under the floorboards were pieces
of w i n d o w tracery, mostly derived f r o m
the r e p l a c e m e n t or repair of windows in
the 19th century. However, three pieces
w i t h o u t glazing grooves m a y be part of a
missing stone rood screen. Stone rood
screens are rare in Essex churches so
these f r a g m e n t s , if they do belong to a
rood screen, are a valuable f i n d . They
also
add
detail
to
our
previous
understanding
of the
pre-Victorian
layout of the c h u r c h . T h e de Teye t o m b
cover is to be reset in the new church
floor, a n d a sample of the tracery pieces
will be kept in the c h u r c h .
Bodies in
the car
park
As m u c h is k n o w n a b o u t the prehistory of
the Chelmer Valley as a l m o s t any other
p a r t o f Essex. E x c a v a t i o n s o v e r t h e last 2 5
y e a r s o n sites a t S p r i n g f i e l d L y o n s , t h e
Boreham Interchange and the Great
B a d d o w e n c l o s u r e b y t h e Essex C o u n t y
C o u n c i l Field A r c h a e o l o g y t e a m h a v e
allowed archaeologists such as Nigel Brown
t o b r i n g t o life t h e m o n u m e n t s , f i e l d s ,
burial grounds a n d houses of the Neolithic
a n d B r o n z e A g e f a r m e r s w h o lived h e r e
4 , 0 0 0 years a g o . N o w , e x c a v a t i o n s b y C A T
a t t h e n e w C h e l m s f o r d p a r k - a n d - r i d e site
near Sandon have revealed m o r e burials
a n d possible buildings.
Anyone who has worked in Chelmsford
will understand the appeal of parking on
the fringes of the city a n d taking a short
bus ride to work. T h e park-and-ride on
the Junction o f the A 4 1 4 M a l d o n Road
a n d A 1 2 Chelmsford Bypass was so
popular t h a t a second phase was soon
under construction. CAT carried out trial
trenching a n d excavation on the site in
2 0 0 5 a n d 2 0 0 6 , on behalf of Essex
County Council a n d Equity Estates.
Excavations have shown t h a t there were
several phases of activity on the parkand-ride site. T h e discovery of a small
group of Neolithic flints indicates t h a t
people were present in the area
s o m e t i m e between 4 , 0 0 0 a n d 2 , 5 0 0
BC. However, it is m u c h more difficult to
know exactly w h a t they were d o i n g here.
T h e absence of any evidence for
buildings or agriculture (ie post holes,
pits or ditches) suggests t h a t Neolithic
people did not live on this site, a l t h o u g h
they may have been active in the vicinity.
T h e m a i n phase of activity dated to the
Late Bronze A g e , a n d consisted of
thirty-five c r e m a t i o n burials, a n d a large
cluster of post holes. Pottery f r o m the
post holes was dated by Nick Lavender
to the period between 1,000 BC a n d
8 0 0 BC. Bone f r o m t h e c r e m a t i o n
burials gave radiocarbon dates center-
ing on t h e 10th century BC, which is
broadly supportive of the pottery dates.
There were t w o groups of cremation
burials which m a y be contemporary, or
slightly separated in date. T h e lack of
overlap between the cremations burials
a n d the post holes suggests t h a t one
part of t h e site was reserved for burial,
a n d a n o t h e r part for domestic activity.
T h e c r e m a t e d bones, examined by
Francesco Boghi, were t o o small to yield
any useful d a t a on the age or sex of the
buried people.
C o n t e m p o r a r y with the burials was a
large cluster of post holes. This is not
easily u n t a n g l e d , but may contain the
g r o u n d - p l a n s of several structures, including a post circle, fences, 'fourposters' a n d 'two-posters'. None of
these structures are definite, but the fact
t h a t they occur in the same part of the
site as the bulk of the pottery sherds and
other finds identified by N i n a Crummy
as parts of clay ovens a n d a possible kiln
support t h e idea t h a t there was a
domestic
centre
here,
presumably
associated with a post-built structure.
T h e discovery of a spindle-whorl sug-
Above. Brian Hurrell digging a Bronze
A g e c r e m a t i o n burial.
Left. Digging on the Park & Ride site.
Above right. A flood of cars waiting for
extra parking spaces.
28
gests t h a t the local e c o n o m y included
weaving. There were t w o buried vessels
in a m o n g the post-hole cluster. As these
were empty, it is difficult to argue t h a t
they
were
burials.
Conventionally,
archaeologists interpret these as 'placed
deposits' whose ritual significance may
be lost on the m o d e r n observer.
In a later phase (still in the Late Bronze
Age or possibly the Early Iron A g e ) field
ditches were laid o u t across the site. As
these cut t h r o u g h the post holes a n d
cremations, they must herald a c o m plete c h a n g e in land use. It w o u l d be
normal to interpret this as a c h a n g e to
pastoral f a r m i n g , with the land being
allowed to revert to grass, a n d a system
of hedges a n d ditches used to control
stock. T h e layout of the ditches, w i t h
one being a possible stock f u n n e l , does
not contradict this interpretation.
The final phase of activity was in the
Middle Iron A g e , w h e n a n u m b e r of pits
were cut t h r o u g h the field ditches. Q u i t e
what they m e a n is difficult to say, but
pits would usually suggest an e l e m e n t of
domestic o c c u p a t i o n .
It is easy to see the building of the car
park as a rather brutal end to the history
of the site. But it can be a r g u e d t h a t this
latest c h a n g e is in keeping with t h e
earlier changes of land-use whereby
populations a d a p t e d the land to suit
their o w n particular needs. So w h o
knows, perhaps one day car parks will be
of great interest to archaeologists!
Howard Brooks and Ben Holloway
T h e above illustration shows the radiocarbon dates for five of the c r e m a t i o n
burials f r o m the Chelmsford park-and-ride site. There is a little scientific jargon
here, w h i c h needs to be understood so t h a t we c a n read off ' r e a l ' dates. T h e left
side of the illustration shows each sample with its reference n u m b e r , a n d a date
in years BP followed by a ' ± ' n o t a t i o n . BP stands f o r Before Present, w h i c h by
international a g r e e m e n t is the year AD 1950. Let us take the first result as an
example. To convert this 'Before Present' date to a 'Before Christ' date, subtract
1 9 5 0 f r o m 2 9 1 0 , the answer of course being 9 6 0 (BC). In f a c t this date is only
t h e centre point of a range w h i c h is given as ± 5 0 , or 50 years on either side of
9 6 0 BC (ie 1 0 1 0 BC - 9 1 0 BC). (To c o m p l i c a t e matters t h o u g h , we need to
bear in m i n d t h a t for each of the ' r e a l ' dates, there is a small possibility it
actually lies outside its date range.) T h e final bit of scientific j a r g o n is ' C a l B C .
This refers to the f a c t t h a t ' r a w ' radiocarbon dates are t o o ' y o u n g ' , a n d have to
be calibrated against tree-ring dates to give a reading in ' r e a l ' or calendar years
BC. T h e scale along the b o t t o m of the illustration shows calibrated dates (ie
dates in ' r e a l ' years BC).
Thus, the centre points of all five dates are (reading d o w n the c o l u m n ) 9 6 0 BC,
9 0 0 BC, 8 7 5 BC, 6 9 5 BC, 8 4 0 BC (each one with a small error m a r g i n of 35 to
50 years). These dates all coincide with t h e Late Bronze A g e . T h e d a t i n g work
was carried out by t h e Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre in
East Kilbride.
The dykes of
Camulodunon:
anti-chariot defences or
boundaries of a major
trading centre?
D a v i d G r o c o t t a r g u e s t h a t t h e dykes o f
C o l c h e s t e r - f o r so l o n g seen as t h e a n c i e n t
d e f e n c e s o f t h e t o w n - m a y have b e e n
nothing of the sort.
T h e traditional interpretation of t h e
Dykes of Iron A g e Colchester has been
t h a t they were defences d r a w n up
t h r o u g h later prehistory to defend an
area inhabited by a pastoral f a r m i n g
elite of militaristic local chieftains. M e n
d a u b e d with w o a d w o u l d stand behind
these barriers a n d stare out across the
land, awaiting attack. This interpretation has always had a heavy emphasis
on the defensive capability of t h e dykes
and has not looked at w h a t I believe is a
more likely alternative - t h a t the dykes
were far more i m p o r t a n t t h a n mere
defence. I believe the dykes were there
primarily to m a r k an area of special
significance, an area of special i m p o r t ance far greater t h a n
previously
t h o u g h t - an area of special significance
t h a t has parallels in t h e Far East a n d
Scandinavia.
T h e dykes f o r m a network t h a t mostly
help to join the R o m a n River with t h e
Colne a n d , with these river valleys,
create a sealed-off area. But a p a r t f r o m
t h a t , why do we think the dykes are
primarily defensive?
Well the Iron A g e n a m e of Colchester,
C a m u l o d u n u m - the fortress of the W a r
G o d - rather sets the t o n e . But a p a r t
f r o m t h a t the answer is t h a t we just seem
to think the dykes are defensive because
of their scale. We do have R o m a n
historians, like Strabo, w h o talk a b o u t
the British a n d describe their large
settlements as being 'in the w o o d ' using
natural barriers, marshes, rivers etc in
conjunction with m a n - m a d e fortifications. T h a t certainly fits with t h e
m o d e l of Colchester a n d t h e artificial
boundaries working in c o n j u n c t i o n with
the rivers R o m a n a n d Colne. Romans,
including Julius Caesar, also tell us t h a t
the Britons were incredibly war-like a n d
ferocious. Both Strabo a n d Caesar
30
provide great detail a b o u t t h e use of
chariots in British warfare. This is of
course seen by m a n y archaeologists as
all t h e proof needed to say t h a t t h e
Britons, incredibly war-like in their
general d e m e a n o u r , had built the dykes
t o prevent t h e o f t - q u o t e d ' f l o w i n g '
chariot warfare w h i c h w o u l d be broken
against t h e tank-trap-like structures t h a t
are the dykes. Alas, I do not believe this
is an a r g u m e n t we should trust.
It is f a m o u s l y difficult to identify warfare
in archaeology. T w o t h o u s a n d years o n ,
a ferocious battle w o u l d a m o u n t to little
within t h e archaeological record, a n d
chariot f o r m a t i o n s w o u l d c o u n t f o r even
less. Isolated examples such as piles of
sling stones at south coast hill forts a n d
ballista bolts f r o m R o m a n w a r engines
are our only glimpse into w h a t must
u n d o u b t e d l y be an under-represented
feature of Britain's ancient past.
But t h a t aside you c a n ' t get away f r o m
the f a c t t h a t t h e point of archaeology is
to base your understanding on w h a t you
c a n prove a n d in Colchester there is very
little to suggest warfare. T h e r e is a
revetment at the f r o n t of o n e of the
dykes in Lexden, but t h a t is remarkable
for being a seeming o n e off. It is also
i m p o r t a n t t o r e m e m b e r t h e political
motivation f o r Caesar to exaggerate t h e
warlike nature of the people he m e t in
Britain to boost his o w n prowess in his
quest to b e c o m e emperor.
Whereas evidence of warfare a n d
defence is conspicuous by its absence at
C a m u l o d u n u m , evidence f o r trade is
disproportionately
abundant.
Coin
moulds at Sheepen, continental pottery
a n d metalwork, a m p h o r a a n d jewellery
are all to be f o u n d by the i m p o r t e d
bucket load. Colchester was, everyone
agrees, a m a j o r focus of t r a d e .
Iron A g e warriors in a c t i o n at
C a m u l o d u n o n as they race out of one
of the entrances in the dykes.
Reconstruction by Peter Froste.
A similar story is to be f o u n d at other
so-called o p p i d a like Colchester, where
large dykes have been seen for decades
as evidence of warfare a n d defence.
Here there is no sign of warfare but
there are coin moulds a n d monetary
concentrations. From a strictly archaeological perspective t h e n , the evidence is
clear - Colchester was all trade a n d not
defence.
So if t h e dykes w e r e n ' t for defence what
m i g h t they have been used for? I believe
there are t w o examples f r o m history that
m a y show us w h a t Iron A g e Colchester
m a y have been like a n d why it had such
huge dykes constructed a r o u n d it.
Firstly are t h e Viking e m p o r i a which
were to be f o u n d t h r o u g h o u t the first
m i l l e n n i u m in t h e Baltic a n d N o r t h Sea.
These centres of trade were surrounded
by 'defences', but the defences, the
edges of the settlements, were not solely
barriers against t h e outside but marked
the limits t h a t foreigners could move.
T h e f a m o u s case for this is Hedeby on
the
Danish/German
border
where
travellers f r o m as f a r as M o o r i s h Spain
c a m e to t r a d e but could not leave the
walls of t h e settlement. Here the walls of
the settlement m a y have originally had a
defensive purpose but they became
synonymous a n d symbolic of the limits
of special activity t h a t could take place
within t h e settlement.
Closer to Colchester t h e
Romans
themselves were very specific in what
could be d o n e inside a n d outside city
walls. Walls d e t e r m i n e d activity - like
burial which was only allowed outside
the city walls. Is it possible t h a t
Colchester's status as a t r a d i n g centre
was marked by the dykes w h i c h
surrounded it? Could it be t h a t inside t h e
initially defensive dykes of t h e settlement, certain trading activity grew a n d
became
enshrined
in
increasingly
elaborate a n d less defensive e a r t h works?
Another example of a t r a d i n g centre
that is physically separated c a n be f o u n d
thousands of miles a w a y f r o m C o l chester in 17th-century Japan. During
the Edo period, f r o m 1 6 4 1 - 1 8 5 3 , t h e
powerful Shoguns sought to limit interaction with t h e outside world a n d to
control trade. In order to keep some
contact while at t h e same t i m e adhering
to the principles of isolation, an artificial
island was built in Nagasaki Bay. This
island, D e j i m a , was f o r t w o h u n d r e d
years t h e only place in Japan where
contact with the west w o u l d
be
permitted. It allowed the Shoguns of
Edo to keep an iron grip on t h e trade
with the west. If you look at the Japanese
model of D e j i m a , t h e parallels w i t h
Colchester are striking. Japan sought
isolation or at least control over foreign
contact following instability caused by
contact with an alien a n d materially
richer culture.
In Britain the R o m a n conquest of G a u l
and the aborted invasions by Caesar
had destabilised the southeast a n d left
the British chieftains feeling insecure albeit entranced by t h e material w e a l t h
promised by Rome.
In Japan a ruling caste hoped to control
trade to reap t h e benefits of strictly
monitored trade. In Colchester t h e
Catuvellaunian tribe u n d e r Cunobelinus
hod established a m a j o r settlement at
Colchester specifically to get closer to
the trading o p e n e d up by the R o m a n
conquest of G a u l . Always r e m e m b e r
t h a t f o r Cunobelinus t r a d i n g was t h e
priority in seeking o u t Colchester - not
seeking a g o o d defensive position. A n d
of course in Japan the culture was
militaristic but the island of D e j i m a was
not fortified f o r defence - its walls were
built to physically separate the act of
trading with outsiders. In short - as at
Dejima - just because t h e dykes of
Colchester look defensive, it does not
necessarily follow t h a t they were
primarily used f o r defence.
This idea - t h a t Colchester's dykes were
built to segregate foreigners a n d t h e act
of trading - is not so preposterous. T h e
Greek historian talks a b o u t the island of
Ictis
which
later
historians
and
archaeologists have been identified as
t h e naturally-excluded St M i c h a e l ' s
M o u n t in Cornwall. Here on this natural
island, Diodorus says, trade t o o k place
between the Britons - rich in tin - a n d
the materially richer foreigners. Ictis is
just a naturally occurring D e j i m a .
Further along the British south coast, t h e
A l t h o u g h the walls of D e j i m a may look defensive, they clearly were not as t h e
island was never h o m e to m o r e t h a n 100 Dutch merchants, a n d these walls w o u l d
have proved completely ineffective if the Japanese ever decided to seriously test
t h e island. T h e defences were built by t h e Japanese to keep the island separate
a n d was intended to keep foreigners distinct a n d show in physical f o r m the limits
of t r a d i n g . Could this be a parallel to the dykes of Colchester?
site of Hengistbury H e a d near Bournem o u t h was a n Iron A g e mercantile
centre t h a t was positioned on a
peninsula with its c o n n e c t i o n to the land
cut by a ditch a n d bank. These sites a n d
others like t h e m start to suggest a
tradition of Iron A g e t r a d i n g centres
physically cut off a n d separated f r o m the
surrounding countryside into w h i c h
foreigners could c o m e a n d t r a d e . This
c a u t i o n need not have been a result of
x e n o p h o b i a ( a l t h o u g h t h a t may have
played a part), but was probably t h e
logical extension of centralised a n d
highly controlled trade b e g u n in Britain
in the Bronze A g e .
This is of course a largely a c a d e m i c
point. C a m u l o d u n u m fell to the Romans
in AD 4 3 , was sacked by Boudica in
AD 6 0 , a n d b e g a n its slow decline f r o m
powerhouse of Britain to average-size,
provincial t o w n . But I feel it is i m p o r t a n t
f o r us to t h i n k a b o u t t h e dykes of Iron
A g e Colchester as not just militaristic
chariot traps. For me such a simplistic
explanation is naive a n d misses the
point. I d o n ' t t h i n k it does Colchester or
the dykes justice.
David Grocott studied archaeology at
Durham University and Popular Culture
with the Open University and is currently
studying for an MBA.
Other views
Similar a r g u m e n t s like this have been m a d e before, ie t h a t t h e dykes were really
land boundaries or they were barriers to control livestock. T h e trouble with these
ideas is t h a t they offer no explanation as to why all the dykes on the west side of
C a m u l o d u n u m f a c e d westwards a n d t h e dyke on the east side (Berechurch
Dyke) f a c e d eastwards. If the dykes really did have no defensive purpose, t h e n it
w o u l d not have mattered w h i c h way they f a c e d . Moreover, these theories do not
convincingly explain why there was a succession of dykes on the west side of
C a m u l o d u n u m each of w h i c h was significantly further west t h a n the last one. A
defensive purpose for the dykes is overwhelmingly the most obvious a n d most
likely reason for their existence. However, this is not to say t h a t t h e other
explanations c a n n o t hold g o o d as well. Everybody can still be right a n d h o n o u r
c a n be satisfied all r o u n d .
PC
31
The Friends of
Colchester Archaeological
Trust
Jane Meech, new chairman of the
Friends, tries her hand at digging...
My n a m e is Jane M e e c h , I am the new
c h a i r m a n of the Friends of CAT, a n d I
have a guilty secret (and just in case this
sounds
like
an
introduction
to
Archaeologists
Anonymous,
don't
worry, I'll explain later).
T h e Friends of C A T exists to provide a
bridge
between
the
professional
archaeologists
at the
Trust,
and
members of the public w h o have an
interest in archaeology generally, a n d
especially in w h a t is h a p p e n i n g in
Colchester, a t o w n t h a t has a seemingly
unending supply of surprises whenever a
spade is put into the g r o u n d . T h e
Friends meet every year in January to
hear a b o u t the various contracts the
Trust has been working o n . At the
meeting on 2 0 t h January 2 0 0 7 , over
100 Friends enjoyed illustrated talks
a b o u t the excavations a n d ' w a t c h i n g
briefs' undertaken all over Essex d u r i n g
2 0 0 6 , including Marks Tey, Basildon,
Great Notley, the Chelmsford park a n d
ride at Sandon, the Crouched Friars site
in Colchester, a n d of course the latest
up-date on the R o m a n circus site. A n d ,
incidentally, we all enjoyed a splendid
tea a n d cakes session afterwards.
In July a n d August 2 0 0 6 , Philip C r u m m y
led two conducted walks a r o u n d the
Roman walls. Both walks were booked
to capacity, a n d Philip shared with us
some of his comprehensive knowledge
about the building a n d d e v e l o p m e n t of
the walls. On a chill day more t h a n 40
Friends gathered at the Napier R o a d /
Flagstaff Road junction, where Philip
reminded us of the overall Circus layout,
orientation a n d dimensions, a n d t h e n
led us to where the excavation h a d
revealed one end of the central barrier,
where there would have been a t u r n i n g
post (where the chariots w o u l d have
swung around 3 6 0 degrees). While we
were there Philip mentioned t h a t Taylor
W o o d r o w , the developers, had allowed
a trench to be d u g in front of the
Sergeants' Mess. Philip believed this was
where the starting gates w o u l d have
been, a n d while it was a wonderful
chance to establish this, t i m e and funds
were scarce, a n d Friends were invited to
volunteer to help on the d i g . (I should
m e n t i o n at this point t h a t it is not
normally possible for volunteers to work
on Trust excavations because these are
32
nearly always related to c o m m e r c i a l
developments. However this was an
exceptional case because the work was
being carried on a research basis.)
N o w for my guilty secret - I am a T i m e
T e a m f a n , a n d have been since the
series started. Before that, in c o m m o n
with m a n y other people I w o u l d guess,
my knowledge of archaeology a n d its
methods was almost nil, a n d my interest
in same was even less. There are some
archaeologists,
professional
and
a m a t e u r (but not t h e Trust I m i g h t a d d ) ,
w h o have reservations a b o u t T i m e
T e a m , a n d regard it as 'archaeology
lite'. However, I w o u l d a r g u e t h a t
anything t h a t arouses a n d engages t h e
interest of a large swathe of t h e
p o p u l a t i o n , t h a t shows the fascinating
history t h a t lies beneath our feet, t h a t
demystifies a n d proves t h a t archaeology
c a n be for everyone, c a n only be A G o o d
Thing.
So,
having
been
an
armchair
archaeologist f o r all these years, w h e n
Philip asked f o r volunteers, it was my
c h a n c e to be in there f o r real! I fired off
an email to Philip offering to help, a n d
three weeks later g o t a p h o n e call f r o m
Laurie Driver, a Trust archaeologist w h o
was to supervise the dig, telling me t h a t
it was to begin on t h e 19th February.
W h e n Mick, my h u s b a n d , a n d I first
w e n t f o u r days later, the m e c h a n i c a l
diggers had been at work, a n d in front of
the Sergeants' Mess was a huge
square(ish) hole. My dreams of daintily
wielding a trowel were i m m e d i a t e l y
destroyed - I soon learnt t h a t these early
stages are a b o u t brute force a n d muscle
power. N o w , correct me if I'm w r o n g ,
but I c a n n o t recall ever having seen a
wheelbarrow o n T i m e T e a m , a n d
certainly not one full of wet earth. After
t h a t first day, w h i c h was also cold a n d
very wet, I considered giving up my g y m
m e m b e r s h i p , since the d i g g i n g a n d t h e
loaded wheelbarrow pushing appeared
to be exercising every muscle in my
body, including some I was not aware I
possessed. Also, at this t i m e , I could not
m a k e head or tail of w h a t was supposed
to be there, it just seemed a j u m b l e of
lumps of stone. Over t h e next three
weeks, however, the outlines of the
starting gates b e g a n to appear, it
gradually started to m a k e sense to m e ,
Jane a n d M i c k M e e c h excavating on
t h e site of t h e circus.
a n d I even had a f i n d - a R o m a n nail!
Laurie, a n d E m m a Spurgeon, another
Trust archaeologist a n d the Trust
illustrator, were models of patience and
frequently stopped w h a t they were doing
to explain things to m e , not only about
the site but also to show me the correct
techniques. After t h a t first day the
w e a t h e r was a bit kinder to us, but my
admiration
is u n b o u n d e d for the
professionals w h o have to carry on
whatever the elements t h r o w at t h e m . I
feel
privileged to
have
had the
opportunity to be on this d i g , a n d to
experience t h e thrill of seeing the past
a p p e a r beneath my trowel. Will I still
w a t c h T i m e T e a m ? Yes, but with a more
critical eye in future, a n d a far deeper
understanding of the hard work and
technical knowledge t h a t a dig entails.
N o t everyone c a n experience an actual
d i g , a n d m a y b e I will never do another
one, but belonging to the Friends does
mean
that,
via
The
Colchester
Archaeologist, we c a n keep up to date
with the Trust's work. By attending the
a n n u a l lecture in January we also get a
c h a n c e to hear first-hand f r o m the
project
leaders,
and
have
the
opportunity to qsk questions a n d chat to
t h e m at t h e t e a a n d cakes session
afterwards.
M a n y thanks
A f t e r m a n y years of h a r d w o r k , t w o key
m e m b e r s of t h e Friends have decided
it's t i m e to t a k e a back seat. A f t e r a
m a m m o t h 2 5 years (bar just t w o ) , Nina
C r u m m y has h a n d e d over t h e task of
o r g a n i s i n g t h e trips t o Jane M e e c h and
f o u n d e r m e m b e r M i k e Corbishley, and
Gabrielle C h a d w i c k has s t o o d d o w n as
c h a i r p e r s o n a f t e r 15 years in t h e job.
Both roles are very t i m e - c o n s u m i n g ,
a n d t h e w o r k of N i n a a n d Gabrielle are
m u c h a p p r e c i a t e d by all c o n c e r n e d .
However, b o t h will r e m a i n active in the
Friends. N i n a is to c o n t i n u e m a i n t a i n i n g t h e m e m b e r s h i p d a t a b a s e and
Gabrielle plans to help o u t in more
general ways.
Colchester Roman circus poster. 841 x 595 mm ( A l ) . £5.00 each.
Available by collection from the Colchester Archaeological Trust,
12 Lexden Road, Colchester, C03 3NF during office hours, Monday to Friday,
or by post (but please add £2.50 for post and packing).
ISSN
0152-0166
Colchester Archaeological Trust