Digital Archive from an Archaeological Watching Brief at Orchard Street, Chelmsford, Essex, July to December 2018

This collection comprises image, text, spreadsheet and CAD data from an archaeological watching brief at 30-30a Orchard Street, Chelmsford, Essex. The work was undertaken by Archaeology South-East between July and December 2018. Following trial-trench evaluation in 2017 of the circa 180 square metre site, which encountered remains of Roman, medieval and post-medieval/ modern date, an archaeological watching brief, monitoring the excavation of foundation trenches for a new building and a trench for a new boundary wall, was undertaken in advance of residential development. The watching brief established that the Roman road leading from Moulsham Street to the mansio, identified in the adjacent 1977-78 excavation area (Site AR), continued westwards across the site. At least two phases of gravel metalling were identified, along with a possible element of repair. In the north-west of the site, a Roman wall foundation trench contained a significant quantity of Septaria and Roman tile. The foundation may have carried a timber beam or masonry wall possibly associated with the temple building complex identified in Site AR.