Ebook: Excavations of Roman and Later Cemeteries, Churches and Monastic Sites in Colchester, 1971-88

Principal illustrators: R. H. Moyes and T. W. Cook. Contributors: H. Cool, J. Cotter, C. Cunningham, John A. Davies, C. Going, A. Harris, S. Pinter-Bellows, J. Price, R. Reece, D. Shimmin, N. A. Smith, A. Stirland, R. P. Symonds, and D. Watts.

This book provides reports on all the excavations in Colchester between 1971 and 1985 which involved the examination of burial areas of the Roman and later periods. Also included for obvious reasons are those excavations of this period which were concerned with churches (Roman and later) and monastic sites. As it happens, in every case, the latter work involved the excavation of human remains. Easily the most significant excavation concerned the Roman burials and church at Butt Road (Chapters 2 to 4) and as a result the account of this project dominates this book. Other reports relate to the excavation of parts of Roman burial areas at Maldon Road (Chapter 6) and in the grounds of the former St John's Abbey (Chapter 5). Two of Colchester's monastic sites received attention: St John's Abbey (Chapter 5) and Crouched Friars (Chapter 7). Work at the former was concerned with the area north of the site of the main monastic buildings where a small church of 11th-century or earlier date was discovered. The church had been demolished c. 1095 when its site was used as a lay burial ground. Also examined was part of the precinct wall and the parish church of St. Giles, which was built within the monastic precinct. The position and character of the physical remains of the Crouched Friars has always been mysterious and in this respect, little has changed despite the recent work. However the latter does allow us to speculate about this problem and to provide a basis for future work should opportunities for excavation arise in suitable areas. To round off the book, a summary is provided in Chapter 8 of the cemeteries of Roman Colchester which is based on M. R. Hull's 'lnventory of Graves'. The latter is a substantial piece of work which unfortunately was never completed and thus never published.