Colchester Archaeological Trust

CAT Report 1609: summary

Archaeological strip, map and record excavation at Colchester Northern Gateway (South) Phase 1a, on land south of Axial Way, Colchester, Essex, CO4 5JF: July, September and October 2020
by Laura Pooley (with contributions from Lisa Gray, Dr Elliott Hicks, Dr Matthew Loughton, Mark Baister, Chris Lister, Emma Holloway)

Date report completed: December 2020
Location: Land south of Axial Way, Colchester, Essex, CO4 5JF
Map reference(s): TM 0024 2877
File size: kb
Project type: Strip, map and record
Significance of the results:
Keywords:

Summary. An archaeological strip, map and record excavation was carried out at Colchester Northern Gateway (South), land south of Axial Way, Colchester, Essex during groundworks as part of Phase 1a of the development. The development site is located within an area of cropmarks with recent excavations since 2001 revealing a significant concentration of charcoal-rich pits across this area of northern Colchester. Evaluation and Phase 1 excavation in advance of the current project had previously uncovered evidence of charcoal-rich pits, along with post-medieval, modern and undated features.

CNG (South) Phase 1a excavation revealed 29 features including two medieval/post-medieval pits, a post-medieval/modern field boundary ditch, fourteen modern features (ditches/drainage ditches, a pit, posthole and wheel-rut), five undated features (pits, a pit/posthole and a gully terminus) and two natural features. Also excavated were three undated charcoal-rich pits along with two charcoal-rich pits of post-medieval/modern and modern date.