LONDON ARCHAEOLOGIST 1973 Vol 2.6

Blackfriars, Baynards Castle area. Guildhall (Mus. Dept. of Urban Archaeology (P. R. Marsden).

Excavations under the southern carriageway of the new riverside motorway revealed the SW multiangular tower of the Castle (-15th c). The limits of a 16th c. extension of the Castle were defined. The area west of the Castle was occupied by a stone-lined dock and by large deposits of domestic rubbish dumped for land reclamation and containing many well-preserved objects.

Bread Street, St. Milfred's Church. G.M., D. of U.A. (M. Guterres).
The earliest features observed were connected with Roman (?Claudian) timber structures; several timber slots were seen in section and one posthole was exposed in plan. Overlying were the remains of an early Roman masonry building which contained an opus signinum floor. 5m. wide and which was constructed some time during the 1st c. and destroyed at the turn of the c. There was also part of a (?11th C.) hut pit; the hut had been constructed by setting the main posts directly into the natural gravel and the wall which was of clay, had been faced with planks.
Fragmentary remains of the walls of the medieval church were visible under the Wren foundations.

Greyfriars (Christchurch). GM., D. of U.A. (R. Johnson).
Part of the medieval east wall and three of the medieval Pillar bases were found below the foundations of Wren’s church: the bases were linked by trench-built arches. Over 6m. of deposit still survives within the church.

Lower Thames Street, Old Custom House site. GM., D. of U.A. (T. W. T. Tatton-Brown).
A Roman timber quay (?mid-2nd C.) was found; this was a large pre-fabricated structure and ran for at least 50m. across the site. The eastern section was of a boxed structure with tiers of wooden beams which had been dovetailed into the main quay wall (see next issue). Two successive medieval braced timber quays were also found ,the first possibly dating
to the 13th c.

LAARC Archive.

Africa House, 39–42 Leadenhall Street, EC3 TQ 33330 81100 (D. Woods)
Two sections were recorded here during construction work. One contained evidence of two periods of Roman buildings, medieval pits and an early medieval foundation; the other only medieval pits. The early medieval foundation has been proposed as a fragment of the lost chapel of St Michael, Aldgate, which lay in this general area.

Lawrence Pountney Lane, EC4 TQ 32780 80850 (T Johnson).
The precise site of this observation is not known. Building material of the Roman to post-medieval periods was recovered, including a fragment of Roman walling with plastered face and wattle impressions on the back.

29 Noble Street, EC2 TQ 32220 81490 P Ellis, G. Milne (1973), P Allen (1985).
Observations in 1973 and 1985 during landscaping works next to the standing fragment of city wall found that the brickearth bank associated with the original wall of the Roman Cripplegate fort was constructed, together with an intramural street and its drainage gully. Additions to the bank were then made; these encroached upon the street. The street was repaired and resurfaced and on two occasions a deliberate attempt was made to re-establish the original street edge by cutting into the tail of the bank. During this phase, it is presumed that the ragstone wall of the reinforcement of the fort wall (the city wall of c AD 200) cut the original bank.