LONDON ARCHAEOLOGIST 1976 vol 3.2

All Museum of London, Dept. of Urban Archaeology.

Fenchurch Street. TQ 3306 8095 (A. Boddington).

Salvage excavation on site of SE corner of Forum included three small areas indicating character and planning of the site. Four Roman periods were distinguished, the second and third separated by fire, probably Boudiccan.

G.P.O., Newgate Street. TQ 3204 8135 (A. Thompson).
Continuation of work has disclosed Bronze Age sherds, and flints and native sherds of late Iron Age or early Roman period. Above were two occupation phases, probably Flavian, and to the S, burnt material associated with Hadrianic fire. Work on St. Nicholas Church and cemetery has also continued. WC.

2-3 Lombard Court. TQ 329 809 (J. Maloney).

Salvage excavation produced deposits of c. 1st - 2nd C., including a fire deposit (probably not Boudiccan) and collapsed mock wall and a piece of tesselated floor. A 12th-13th c. pit cut through Roman deposits to gravels. One pit, containing 12th c. pottery, also included part of a mortarium with splashed green glaze and fractured edges.

St. Margaret, Lothbury TQ 3278 8128 (A. Thompson),
During repairs on the NE corner, an extension, probably of 15th C., was seen to have been carried over a NS culvert which channelled a branch of the Walbrook under the east end of the church The earliest ('?l2th c ) wall and its later extension served as the foundation for the Wren rebuild.

Seal House, Upper Thames Street TQ 328 807 (J Schofield).
Salvage excavation subsequent to full excavation in 1974 provided further details of Roman waterfront, dated by dendro. to 155 A.D. p/m 5. In the 12th and 13th c. three substantial timber waterfronts were built (c. 1125. 1160 p/m 5. 1220 p/m 5); with the last a series of quayside buildings could be discerned. In the early 14th c. the waterfront was again extended, as it was five more times before 1660.

Trig Lane, Upper Thames: Street. TQ 326 308 (G Milne)
The first phase of this excavation was completed in December 1976, and the final year concentrated upon elucidation of a sequence of eleven principal revetments dating from 13th to 16th C., each with different structural characteristics. Firm dates are expected from analysis of over 50 timber samples. WC.

Upper Thames Street (Baynards Castle). TQ 310 809 C. Hill).
A continuing watching brief on this site's W half produced further collapsed sections of the Roman riverside wall, and brought the total of sculptured stones to over 50.

LAARC Archive

Christchurch, Newgate Street, EC1. TQ 32010 81350 (P Herbert).
Excavations were carried out in advance of the digging of a shaft 5m square for works connected with the nearby St Paul’s Underground Station. Earliest activity consisted of quarry and other pits, followed by the construction of a building founded on brickearth sills and aligned on the Roman Newgate road. It was destroyed by fire, possibly the Hadrianic, in the early 2nd c. Levelling above the fire debris was covered by dark earth which was later cut by medieval pits dated to the late 12th - mid-13th c. Above these the traces of five buildings may represent occupation of the site by the Franciscan (Grey) Friars in the early 13th c; they were probably demolished for the construction of the church (1306–53). The arched foundations of the S wall and a pier base of the S aisle of the friary church were recorded. Five graves are considered to have been contemporary. Constructed onto the truncated foundations of the friary church was an external wall of Wren’s post-Fire parish church; three brick piers were also recorded. Re-located lead coffins, dating to 1764–1803, were found in a 19th c cut feature.

4–8 Northumberland Alley, EC3. TQ 33470 81020 (A. Boddington).
Natural brickearth was cut by a series of rubbish pits, one of which may originally have been for brickearth extraction. This latter pit was sealed by one of three areas of internal brickearth and trampled surfaces, although there were no recorded structural elements. A possible well cut through one of the areas of floor surfaces. These features are not dated in the summaries produced so far, but Roman material was found.

Peninsular House, 112–116 Lower Thames Street, EC3. TQ 32950 80695 (L. Miller).
A single section was drawn after contractors had dug a hole by machine on this site; traces of a Roman building with a drain and a medieval foundation were observed. The site was excavated three years later as PEN79.

190 Bishopsgate, EC2. TQ 33330 81630 (R Blurton).
No site records of this watching brief can be located. Correspondence (in site file) refers to 14th and 16th c pits. The finds include an Antonine group, late Roman amphora, residual 12th c roof tile, early 13th c residual pottery, some late 14th-15th c material, and a late medieval Syrian alkaline-glazed jar sherd.

Bonhill Street and 16–28 Tabernacle Street, EC2. TQ 32870 81280 (A Boddington).
A deposit of black peaty material was recorded over most of the site to a depth of c 1m below the Victorian slab. It contained organic debris, leather shoes and cloth fabric besides oyster shells and large amounts of bone.

Camomile Street, junction with Bishopsgate, EC3. TQ 33240 81430 (L Miller).
A ?Roman timber and clay-walled building on a timber raft, associated flooring and destruction levels were observed beneath the pavement on the S side of the street.