Colchester Archaeological Trust

CAT Report 814: summary

Archaeological investigations in Upper Castle Park, Colchester, Essex: April 2014-January 2015
by Don Shimmin (with contributions from Stephen Benfield)

Date report completed: July 2015
Location: Upper Castle Park, Colchester, Essex
Map reference(s): TL 9995 2545 (c)
File size: 9,238 kb
Project type: Archaeological investigations
Significance of the results: *
Keywords: Roman, demolition debris, dark earth, post-Roman, ditch, pottery, human bone, lead trade weight

Summary. A series of archaeological investigations took place in Upper Castle Park, Colchester, Essex from April 2014 to January 2015, in advance of and during works to improve the park amenities. These improvement works included changes to the children’s play areas and the Sensory Garden, the installation of interpretation panels, and the replacement of drains. The works were designed to have a minimal impact on the surviving archaeological remains in the park and, in this, they were successful as not much of archaeological significance was found. The uppermost surviving Roman deposits were uncovered in a trench immediately north of the Sensory Garden and in a trench at the Ranger Station. Extensive deposits of post-Roman topsoil or ‘dark earth’ were encountered in most of the investigations. In the ‘sand play area’, the ‘dark earth’ probably accumulated in a shallow post-Roman ditch.