The Colchester Archaeologist 2002 - Colchester Archaeological Trust

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ecognised by their iron collars. But the main on the St Mary's hospital site seems to have been removed in antiquity, which is why no collars were found in its remains. Normally water-pipes did not need an impervious lining such as the clay, because they were designed in such a way as to be watertight. However, the St Mary's water-pipe (if that is what it was), effectively carried the water down one side of a valley and up the other. The pressure of water would have been considerable in the lowest part of the main, hence the use of a clay lining as an extra measure to counteract leakage. Next steps The first stage of the excavations came to a halt in October 2001, but we anticipate that further archaeological excavation will be carried out in 2002 when details for the redevelopment project are finalised. The St Mary's hospital site has such interesting archaeological remains that a solution is being sought which will minimise the impact of the housing redevelopment. Current Government policy is to preserve in position (in situ) as much archaeological material as possible. This policy is embodied in a document named PPG 16, which contains models of best practice and recommendations for how archaeological issues should be dealt with in modern redevelopment. The site developers Jaygate Homes altered the engineering design of the site so that as much of the archaeological material as possible is so left undisturbed. This will have the benefit of preserving a considerable slice of the western suburbs of the town for the future, and if the area comes up for archaeological investigation again, the techniques available to archaeologists in the future should be much more sophisticated than those we have today. After all, we now have ground-probing radars and other geophysical investigation techniques, and if the technology develops even further, there could be some very useful equipment in the offing! Above: six pots from the box burial for a child - five at 25% actual size, and top, the painted face pot at a different scale (actual size 17.5 cm high). The vessels probably contained food and drink. Above right: a shale armlet from the box burial, one of eight armlets from the grave, shown at actual size. 14 Right: the face pot during excavation.
Two Roman buildings Left: the corner of a Roman cellar backfilled with wall-plaster and 'clay' or 'mud-brick' walls from the demolished Roman house. Below: tessellated floor and features which belonged to one of the Roman houses on the St Mary's hospital site. The excavations at St Mary's hospital are being funded by Jaygate Homes Ltd. Roman water conduit Above: an iron junction piece in the base of the slot in the clay lining. The slot in the claylined ditch is the remains of some kind of water conduit, but its form is unclear. The flat iron junction piece suggests a wood-lined channel whereas other factors point to a standard wooden water-pipe that has been removed. 15
Page 2 and 3: With thanks to all the contributors
Page 4 and 5: Open day at St Botolph's priory and
Page 6 and 7: A British farm under the Romans 200
Page 8 and 9: Above: lines were paint-sprayed on
Page 10 and 11: New light on Colchester Castle A su
Page 12 and 13: William Wire's diary - 5th May 1848
Page 14 and 15: Above: cremation pot with lid. Righ
Page 18 and 19: The Victorian workhouse Andrew Phil
Page 20 and 21: Water supply in Roman Colchester Wa
Page 22 and 23: Public buildings destroyed by Boudi
Page 24 and 25: 'Geophys' at Colchester Geophysics
Page 26 and 27: St John's Abbey explored The precin
Page 28 and 29: Above: a column of reused stone fra
Page 30 and 31: 'W' is for... James Fawn explores t
Page 32 and 33: Play the left luggage game and win
Page 34 and 35: The Friends of Colchester Archaeolo

The Colchester Archaeologist 2002 - Colchester Archaeological Trust

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