16th to 17th century well at Queen Street (EHER 8746)

16th to 17th century well and other features found during an excavation in 1985 in advance of redevelopment.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Redevelopment provided the opportunity for excavation to test whether the Roman settlement extended this far west and whether there was medieval settlement here. However, most features were obviously modern and excavation was limited to one feature which was stratigraphically early in the sequence. This was a well whose top fill contained late 16th to early 17th century pottery. Two pits produced surface finds of probably 17th century pottery but were not excavated. A pit which cut the fill of the well contained 19th century building debris. The well and post-medieval features probably belong to the late 15th or 16th century structure to the south, 41 Church Street. The well contained much building debris in its top fill and its infilling probably coincides with structural alteration or repairs to the property. Shallow depth of topsoil and build-up suggests minimal activity in the area of the site prior to 19th century. The finds are in the Colchester and Essex Museum Ac no. 114.1985. Site Assessment = Lack of features or finds of pre 16th century date, other than flints (see EHER 8746) indicates the examined area is outside the area of late Bronze Age/early Iron Age, Roman, and medieval settlement. The western boundary of the Roman settlement lies to the east of the site, apparently, possibly on a line north of the point where the modern road curves slightly northwards between 47-59 East Street. <1> Full finds reports are in site archive. <2> Finds are in Colchester Museum. <3>