Roman pits, ditches and finds assemblage at the Select Cinema site, New Writtle Street (EHER 5858)

Roman pottery, including decorated Samian and a pear-shaped 'unguentarium' found 4ft (1.2m) deep in a rubbish pit, in 1915, in building a heating chamber for the Select Cinema in New Writtle Street

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import from two records. Roman pottery, including late 1st-early 2nd century decorated Samian and a pear-shaped `unguentarium' were found 4ft (1.2m) down in a rubbish pit during the building of a heating chamber for the `Select Cinema' in 1915. Finds in Chelmsford Museum accession number 27.4. <1> <2> Finds included bones and oyster shells. <3> <4> <7> "The material seems to be a group of Trajanic date, dating to around AD 110-130, and is probably derived from a single period V pit". Period V dated to around 90-125. <5> <6> Field survey, 1949 Remains of a small Roman jug from midden under the Select Cinema. <8> After the demolition of the Megazone building the evaluation encountered a series of well preserved Roman pits and ditches dating to the 2nd century AD which is consistent with the site’s position within the south-western corner of the Roman town of Caesaromagus. There is evidence of modern truncation across site and therefore the full extent of preservation is unknown at this time. <9> Monitoring recorded a Roman (2nd century) ditch in the same area of the site as the Roman features recorded during the evaluation. <10> Additional references <11> <12>