The Colchester Archaeologist

Natasha, Fiona, Gerry, and Howard, the four members of Quattro Amici, accompanied by Joe Richardson on keyboard did us proud in the Roman Circus Centre with their sell-out concert last night when we were treated to two hours of songs chosen to suit all tastes. In particular I loved The Flower Duet (Lakmé), a famous [read more…]

National Heritage Open Day at the Roman Circus Centre was a free fun day for all the family. Tours, quizzes, games, and more were all on offer. About twenty-nine volunteers and archaeologists all helped to make the day a success. The centre was buzzing and visitors seemed to like it. [read more…]

An evaluation followed by an excavation on the northern side of Coggeshall has uncovered three ring-ditches. Unlike the ring-ditches recently excavated in northern Colchester which were possible burial places, these were almost certainly prehistoric house sites – with the ring-ditches being ‘eaves-drip gullies’ – drains around circular houses, perhaps enhanced [read more…]

Since 2011 we have been evaluating and excavating sites in advance of the Colchester North housing development. In 2017 we excavated a medieval pottery-producing site near Cants Rose Fields (now ‘Chesterwell’), and we have recently moved south to excavate a site identified by the 2011 evaluation as a possible ‘ring-ditch’ [read more…]

In the first few decades of the first century, the Colne and Blackwater estuaries were ringed by salt-producing sites now known as ‘red hills’. Red hills are so called because they consist of heaps of red debris which is the waste product from the heating process necessary to extract salt [read more…]

                      ‘The greatest Roman archaeological discovery in Britain deserves to be a national tourist destination’ – from the Essex County Standard web-site, at www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/14936960._The_greatest_Roman_archaeological_discovery_in_Britain (30th November 2016) . The Colchester Roman circus visitor centre, site and tea room are now [read more…]

            . The Trust is delighted to announce that ‘Reconstructing Colchester’s past’, our archaeological art exhibition of the work of Peter Froste, has now been extended until the 30th June. We opened the exhibition on the 27th March ’18, on the same day that we [read more…]

                        Our guided tours of the Colchester Roman circus site and visitor centre resume on Saturday 31st March. The guided tours take place on every Saturday from the 31st March until the 29th September, at 12 noon (till 1.00 [read more…]