Colchester Archaeological Trust

25/08/2026

On Saturday 22nd August we hosted our annual archaeology open day, covering the theme of life in Roman Britain as well as celebrating Colchester’s military history.

We were lucky to have the involvement from many groups of extraordinary re-enactors who helped support both our themes, whilst our team of staff were able to educate families about the archaeology we have uncovered through the many activities on hand. And of course, our recently launched exhibition The Lexden Lady was available for members of the public to engage and learn more about the incredible life and legacy of a high-status woman buried in a lead coffin during the late Roman period (exhibition sponsored by Fisher Jones Greenwood (FJG).

A big thank you to the:
• Colchester Roman Society
• Crimson Poppies – WW1 Nurses of Essex
• WW1 Medical Services Living History Society
• Colchester Historical Enactment Society
• Butser IX Legion
• And the Colchester Military Heritage Group for providing two amazing tours on the Royal Artillery (Le Cateau) and Calvary barracks.

If any attendees would like to give feedback on the event, we would be very grateful! Just complete the survey form via the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PZF68R8

Don’t forget to tag us in any photos you have from the event! 🙂

20/08/2026

The countdown is on! We are so excited to welcome everyone THIS Saturday for our CAT Annual Archaeology Day.

🕙 10:00am to 3:00pm

With sunshine on the horizon, it's the perfect opportunity to enjoy a packed day of archaeological activities, hands-on experiences and encounters with our incredible living historians.

The photos below offer just a glimpse of what's in store. Don't they look fantastic? We hope to see you there!





Colchester Roman Society

10/08/2026

🌘 A giant bite out of the Sun... and a chance to uncover hidden stories closer to home.

On the evening of August 12th (this Wednesday!), we'll witness the UK's most dramatic partial solar eclipse in nearly three decades. As the Moon slides across the Sun, daylight will fade, temperatures may dip, birds could fall silent, and for a few magical moments the world will feel strangely different.

And when you've finished looking up, why not look a little closer at the world around you?

Join us at the Roman Circus Visitor Centre for 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘳: 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘉𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯. Discover how historic buildings preserve the stories, secrets and lives of the people who inhabited them, often revealing details that archaeology beneath the ground can never tell us.

Whether you're fascinated by local history, archaeology, architecture, or simply enjoy a good story, this is a talk that will change the way you look at old buildings forever.

📅 Wednesday 12 August
🚪 Doors open 6.45pm | Talk starts 7.30pm
📍 Roman Circus Visitor Centre, Roman Circus Walk, Colchester CO2 7GZ
🎟️ Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/more-than-bricks-and-mortar-historic-buildings-and-the-lives-within-tickets-1989392382168?aff=erelpanelorg

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗽𝘀𝗲. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀.

Through building recording and documentary research, archaeologists can uncover tangible connections between structures and their occupants,

06/08/2026

🏛️ 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙙𝙤 𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥?

Less than one week to go! There are still some spaces available for our next installment in our Lecture Series; full details below.

Historic buildings are far more than bricks and mortar. They hold the stories of the people who lived, worked, loved, struggled and left their mark within them.

Join us for "𝙈𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙈𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙧: 𝙃𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙘 𝘽𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣", where Chris Lister of CAT, will reveal remarkable discoveries uncovered through building recording and historical research.

🔎 Discover: • A Colchester house connected to Daniel Defoe • A cottage with a surprisingly dark past • Soldiers' graffiti hidden within garrison buildings • A historic petting zoo... and its rather intriguing toilets!

Through these fascinating case studies, you'll see how buildings can preserve human stories that archaeology beneath the ground can never tell.

Whether you're interested in local history, archaeology, architecture or simply love a good story, this talk will change the way you look at historic buildings forever.

📅 Wednesday August 12th
🕦 Doors 6.45pm for a 7.30pm start
📍 Roman Circus Visitor Centre, Roman Circus Walk, CO2 7GZ
🎟️ Book a ticket online via the link below.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/more-than-bricks-and-mortar-historic-buildings-and-the-lives-within-tickets-1989392382168?aff=erelpanelorg

03/08/2026

Don’t forget our annual archaeology open day will be returning this year on the 𝟮𝟮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝟭𝟬𝗮𝗺-𝟯𝗽𝗺!

The day is set to explore themes across the Roman and Early Modern Period (specifically touching on military history). Featuring Roman and military themed activities, living historians, live demonstrations and much more!

𝗣𝗹𝘂𝘀, this year we are also giving you the chance to join a tour around the Royal Artillery (Le Cateau) and Cavalry Barracks, led by a group of experts from the Colchester Military Heritage Group.

Attendance of the event is free; 𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿, you must purchase a ticket if you want to attend the tour, this is at a small cost.
Tickets for the tour can be found through our Eventbrite page, or you can follow the link below to purchase a ticket. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1990175990963?aff=oddtdtcreator

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀:
◦ Tour meeting point will be at the Roman Circus House, Colchester, CO2 7GZ
◦ Booking is required for the tour; you must purchase a ticket in advance of the day!
◦ There will two tours during the day, 10:30am and 1:30pm
◦ Tickets cost £5 (with a souvenir booklet included!)
◦ There are only 30 spaces available per tour, 𝘀𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗯 𝗮 𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁!
◦ Parking at the event is strictly limited to blue badge holders only.

Nearby car parks include Butt Road (CO3 3DG), Napier Road North (CO2 7SZ) and Napier Road South (CO2 7GA).

29/07/2026

Pop down to see us Thursday and Friday this week to chat to the archaeologists about what we've found on site and what we're hoping to discover!! Not to be missed!!

Our Finds Tent is set up in the overflow carpark
9.30 until 3.30 both days!

Cudmore Grove Country Park
Historic England
Operation Nightingale
Explore Essex
Essex County Council



ArchaeologyUK

27/07/2026

🧽🏺𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐮𝐝𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤!🏺🧽

While our excavation team continues to make excellent progress investigating the Tudor coastal defences, there's just as much happening in 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬.

Set within the beautiful surroundings of 𝐂𝐮𝐝𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤, visitors have a unique opportunity to see archaeology in action while enjoying one of Essex's beautiful coastal country parks.

Every day, newly excavated artefacts arrive from the excavation site to be carefully cleaned, sorted, labelled and recorded before heading back to our offices for specialist analysis. It's a fascinating part of the archaeological process, and we've loved sharing it with everyone who has stopped by to learn more about the project.

👏 A huge thank you goes to our fantastic volunteers, whose enthusiasm, hard work and local knowledge have helped keep both the excavation and finds processing running smoothly throughout the project.

📍 If you're visiting Cudmore Grove Country Park, why not pop over and say hello? Our outreach and finds processing area is a great opportunity to meet the team, discover how archaeological finds are cared for and learn more about the fascinating history hidden beneath the landscape.

📆Tuesday 28th - Friday 31st
🕦9.30am - 3pm
📍Cudmore Grove Country Park

Thank you to everyone who has visited, volunteered and supported the project so far. We look forward to sharing more discoveries as the project continues!









Explore Essex
Essex County Council
Historic England
Operation Nightingale

25/07/2026

We have had an amazing morning of discussions and research at Mersea Museum. It's been absolutely wonderful chatting to local experts and learning more exciting nuggets about the fort through time, not to mention the various names of cannons etc!

We'll be here for another hour, ready and waiting to answer your questions!

Mersea Island Museum

25/07/2026

Come on down!

We're here until 5pm!

Mersea Island Museum

24/07/2026

🔎 Step Back in Time at our Archaeology Museum Day! 🏺

Thank you to everyone who visited us this afternoon, it was wonderful to meet local people and discuss our findings! If you missed us, fret not! We will be back at Mersea Island Museum tomorrow (Saturday July 25th) for a full day!

Meet the archaeologists behind our ongoing excavation of the Tudor Blockhouse at Cudmore Grove Country Park and discover what we've uncovered so far. This is a unique opportunity to chat with our team, ask questions and get a behind-the-scenes look at how archaeology helps us piece together the past.

Whether you're a history enthusiast or an aspiring archaeologist, it is set to be an informative day.

📍 Mersea Museum
📅 Saturday July 25th
🕙 10am - 5pm

Come along, explore the stories hidden beneath our feet and experience archaeology in action. We look forward to seeing you there!