Colchester Archaeological Trust

CAT Report 193: summary

An archaeological watching brief at North Station Road (the Victoria Inn), Colchester, Essex: February-May 2002
by Orr, K (with contributions from Benfield, S; Black, E; Brooks, H; Crummy, N.)

Date report completed: 30/08/2002
Location: Colchester, Essex
Map reference(s): TL99322577
File size: 11377 kb
Project type: Watching brief
Significance of the results: *
Keywords: Roman building, Roman pottery, mosaic pavement, tessellated pavement, ceramic building materials, Roman wall-plaster, small finds

Summary. An archaeological watching brief was carried out at North Station Road (the Victoria Inn public house), Colchester, Essex in 2002, and this produced more evidence of a high-status Roman residence that had been observed during the 2001 evaluation. The evidence consisted of a foundation, and parts of two mosaic floors and a herringbone floor. The structure was demolished to make way for at least one large building with tessellated pavements which probably had a public rather than a domestic function. The sparsity of stratified pottery made dating difficult; however, the site is thought to have been in use from the early 2nd to the late 3rd century AD.