Colchester Archaeological Trust

CAT Report 1730: summary

Archaeological monitoring and geoarchaeological investigation on land at Hythe Quay, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8JP:September-November 2021
by Dr Elliott Hicks & Chris Lister

Date report completed: January 2022
Location: Land at Hythe Quay, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8JP
Map reference(s): TMM 01521 24376 (centre)
File size: 8319 kb
Project type: Monitoring
Significance of the results:
Keywords: Hythe Quay Colchester

Summary. Archaeological monitoring and geoarchaeological investigation was carried out on land at Hythe Quay, Colchester, Essex during the excavation of trial-pits, window sampler boreholes and boreholes as part of ground investigations during the pre-application stage of a development proposal. A brick structure which may have been associated with a series of lime kilns which was present on the site in the 19th century was observed, along with substantial make-up and demolition layers associated with the prior use of the site as an industrial area, activity which likely destroyed any earlier archaeological deposits which might have existed here.

Data collected from the trial-pits, window samples and boreholes allowed the preparation of a north-south transect of the site. This indicates the presence of probable Holocene alluvium beneath the modern floodplain of the river overlying gravels probably dating to the late Pleistocene.