LIVES & LEGACIES: A House in Crisis

CAT Lecture Series 2026

A House in Crisis - Who Buried the Fenwick Treasure?

In AD 61 Roman Colchester was overwhelmed by the forces of Boudicca, leaving buildings burned and lives abruptly cut short. Beneath the charred remains of a house, archaeologists discovered a remarkable hoard of Roman gold and silver hidden in haste beneath the floor. Scattered across the room above were the burnt remains of food and household debris, preserved where they fell as the building burned. Together with the buried treasure, these traces of everyday life capture a household caught in a moment of catastrophe. But they also allow archaeologists to ask deeper questions: who were the people who lived here, where had they come from, and what do their possessions reveal about their lives in early Roman Colchester?

Speaker: Adam Wightman

Please note : This series of talks describe and discuss ancient life from an archaeological and historical perspective. Due to the nature of the period some aspects of this topic may cause offence to a modern audience. The intention of the presenter is to be informative and to represent the past as accurately as possible, both for its good elements and bad.

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Host or Publisher Colchester Archaeological Trust