By Stefano Ambrogi
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's only known Roman chariot-racing circuit, described as one of the most important sites in the country, risks being lost under a housing project unless campaigners can raise the cash to preserve it in time.
Traces of the huge track were unearthed by archaeologists in the ancient city of Colchester, once the capital of Roman Britain, in Essex, 90 km northeast of London in late 2004.
They discovered the elliptical track and key parts of the structure which would have held rows of tiered stone seating, during a routine survey for builders seeking to redevelop a Victorian army barracks and associated garden.
"The circus in Colchester is the only one in Britain, so it's very rare," said Philip Crummy, director of Colchester Archaeological Trust, who found it.
"It's a big old building. It's the biggest known building in Roman-Britain -- it really is an extraordinary discovery," he told Reuters.
It is one of only a handful of chariot-racing tracks ever to be found in the former northwestern provinces of the empire, and the first to be found in the last 20 years, he said.
Bryan Walters, director of the UK's Association for Roman Archaeology, has called the discovery "one of the most important Roman sites ever found in Britain."
In a letter to a local newspaper he appealed for more time to raise the necessary funding to buy the site.
"If it is lost, it will scar the reputation of Colchester and probably the developers nationally," he wrote.
Only part of the track, a quarter of a mile long (450 metres) and capable of holding 15,000 spectators, has been excavated.
The rest, which Crummy says he has accurately mapped, disappears under roads, gardens and buildings.
Built in the 2nd century BC, archaeologists believe it fell out of use in the 3rd century, with many of its constituent materials incorporated into other buildings.
In September last year, the developers, Taylor Wimpey, offered a local community consortium six months to raise funds to buy the barracks and garden to preserve and display the remains underneath.
Frantic efforts to raise the money needed, about 900,000 pounds, before the end of February have been going on ever since.
If the deadline is missed the property will be sold and converted into eight houses.
But Crummy said a massive local appeal had been launched to raise 220,000 pounds of the total and he was optimistic the grand target would be hit with commercial and charitable donations.
"The actual remains of the circus are protected. What we are trying to do is to display (a main part of it)...rather than simply let it be buried," Crummy said.
The army building, known as the Sergeants' Mess, sits on top of remains of all eight of the circus's starting gates -- stone structures with wooden doors that would have unleashed the chariots at the start of the race.
"We see this as an important step in a long-term plan to try and re-integrate the site and to make much more of it as something to visit as a feature of the Roman town," Crummy said.
(Editing by Steve Addison)
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