Evidence of Roman central heating has been found by archaeologists digging at the site of the old Head Street Post Office.

The heating system, called a "channelled hypercaust", was unearthed by diggers working on the site for the Colchester Archaeological Trust.

It proves that nearly 2000 years before the first Economy Seven heating, Roman citizens of Colchester were warming their toes -- trouble-free -- in the coldest of winters.

Director of the trust, Philip Crummy, said the find was one of a number of interesting new developments at the dig -- the biggest in Colchester for over a decade.

He said: "There is a lot going on. We are holding an open day on Saturday,July 29th that will allow people to take a look at what we are doing.

"We are just taking out a lot of material from the destruction of the town by Boudica. It is the remains of walls and foundations."

The whole site is being converted into a cinema but must be investigated first as it sits right in the centre of Britain's oldest recorded town.

On Saturday, the Trust will be holding the last open day at the site for people to inspect the finds and discoveries.

It follows an earlier open day at the start of July when roughly 900 people turned out to take a guided tour through time.

Mr Crummy said: "We will be doing things slightly differently this time because the site has moved on. We have a lot of new finds."

The hypercaust central heating is believed to have serviced a large town house room over ten metres long.

It is thought to have part of the same building as a bath complex found earlier at the site and worked by drawing hot air from a fire under the floor of the buildings.

The heat was transferred to the floor and could be felt in the room. It was a dirt and smoke-free method of heating a room long before electricity.

Visitors to the open day should meet in Church Street, off Head Street between 10am and 4pm. The dig is expected to last into August but no more open days are planned.

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