AN archaeological expert has explained how Roman kilns which have been discovered at the site of a future nature reserve would have been used in Colchester thousands of years ago.

Adam Wightman, excavation manager at Colchester Archaeological Trust, gave an insight into how the kilns had positioned where there were natural resources nearby, and would have been used to make tiles for the roofs of buildings in Roman Colchester.

He said: “A Roman town of the size and significance of Colchester had a tilery which would have been positioned where the local resources to make tiles could have been easily accessed – that’s why it’s situated in the position that it is.

“The kilns themselves were made mostly from clay and would have made the tiles for the buildings inside the Roman town of Colchester."

Mr Wightman then went onto explain why the kilns would be left underground.

“To excavate them is to destroy them, so we prefer to preserve them when we can.

“This is an opportunity to plant trees outside the tile kilns, and have the meadow on the kilns [rather than the trees].

“Now, we can work together to design the nature reserve to protect the kilns.”