LONDON ARCHAEOLOGIST 1988 vol 5.10

THIS ARTICLE has been prepared from reports submitted by individual supervisors and collated by John Schofield, Liz Shepherd and Andrew Westman. WC at the end of a report indicates that work continues.

Navigation House, 1-18 Aldgate TQ 3353 8113 (D. A. Dunlop).

Between May and July 1988 a post-demolition watching brief was carried out during development, funded by AMEC Properties Ltd. Natural deposits consisted of sand and gravel overlain by brickearth, located at c 11.9m OD. The earliest activity was extensive dumping of Roman date. Whilst there was some structural evidence of Roman occupation. widespread late medieval and post medieval truncation had occurred, although in one section a chalk wall running approx. E-W survived.

9-10 Angel Court TQ 3277 8133 (L. Dyson).
A watching brief, funded by Prudential Assurance, took place between September and November 1988. Three sections were recorded, up to 7m (23ft) long. Natural deposits were not recorded in detail because of the inaccessibility of the sections. Sections 1 and 2 showed similar sequences of alternating flood deposits and rubbish dumps. The dumps, which yielded a few Roman pot sherds, were probably laid to combat flooding from the Walbrook stream which flowed immediately to the N. The remains of a timber structure. possibly part of a channel revetment or hut foundation, were recorded in section 3. A dendrochronological date of AD 191 was obtained from one of the piles.

13-14a Austin Friars TQ 3292 8141 (L. Dyson).
A series of sections was recorded in pile-probing trenches during July and August 1988. The work was funded by City Merchant Holdings Ltd and Friends Provident. The site lies c 15m (50ft) E of an upper Walbrook tributary. In the SW of the site the westwardly-sloping natural brickearth surface was overlain by a series of gravel and rubbish dumps. These were probably intended to raise the ground level, and were no earlier than late 1st c in date. In the NE of the site natural was truncated by a number of pits or ditches. Subsequently, phase of building construction was indicated by a brickearth floor.
Destruction dumps overlying the floor surface contained pot sherds from the late lst-mid 2nd c, and were sealed by an external surface. Substantial site-wide dumps were deposited or accumulated occurred during the late Roman or medieval periods.

192-200 Bishopsgate TQ 3336 8163 (R. Brown).
Chase Property Holdings funded excavation of seven trenches within the basement of the standing building, conducted between March and May 1988.
After an initial site-wide levelling of the area in the early Roman period, three linear cuts and several brickearth or gravel quarries were dug. One ditch running N-S to the extreme W of the site, bordering the Bishopsgate frontage, may have had an association with the Roman road, Ermine Street, running N-S in the vicinity of the site to the W. In the centre of the site lay a badly truncated pebbled surface which was possibly a track or yard. A second major phase of levelling followed, preparing the area for use as a cemetery. Eight definite inhumations were found along with two cremation pits and .another eight possible graves. Severe truncation by the modern basement and pipe trenches meant that only one inhumation was complete; several other disturbed fragments of human bone were distributed throughout the area. The graves were, with one exception, aligned E-W; four displayed evidence of coffins, and two were chalk or plaster burials. A linear cut associated with the cemetery may have been a boundary ditch. After the cemetery fell into disuse the site seems to have been given over to agriculture punctuated by medieval rubbish pits and cesspits. This continued into the post-medieval period from which two wells and a brick-lined pit were recorded. WC

274-306 Bishopsgate TQ 3339 8187 (S. Gibson).
Between November 1987 and February 1988 excavations took place, funded by County and District Properties Ltd. Two main trenches were opened up, one to the N of Stothard Place and the other to the S. It was anticipated that Roman burials would be discovered as the site is located beyond the boundary of the Roman city.
In the N area, post-medieval building activity had truncated the earlier deposits; all that remained was a possible early Roman ditch. In the S area, the larger of the two trenches, early Roman quarrying and levelling activity of the 1st and 2nd c was recorded. Five Roman burials, probably of the 4th c. were excavated in the E of the site, but subsequent medieval pitting had disturbed any others. A medieval chalk cesspit, possibly within the precinct of St Mary Spital, was found in the N of this trench. Foundations of post-medieval buildings were also located, some with discernible rooms and floors. One of the floors was made from re-used glazed and patterned medieval tiles.
This multi-period site produced much Roman material; many fragments of glass, including a basal fragment of a green phial and an assortment of beads; and a complete Roman ceramic vase. Also recovered were many whole decorated medieval floor tiles, of varying designs, with one unique tile possibly depicting the tiler himself or a medieval 'green man'.

27-29 Camomile Street TQ 3331 8141 (A. T Mackinder).
In February-March 1988 six trenches were excavated within a standing building; the work was funded by Prudential Assurance. A NW-SE Roman ditch, at least 25m (82ft) long, and 12 Roman inhumations lay outside the projected line of the city wall. Deposits backfilling the medieval city ditch were recorded. A post-medieval brick wall 3.5m ( 11.5ft) deep was also excavated.
Finds from this site include a small amount of late medieval bone bead-making waste and a medieval copper disc mount.

Eagle House, 86-96 Cannon Street 'IQ 3271 8087 (J.M. Oetgen ).
Excavations were carried out in the basement of Eagle House during July and August 1988. The work was funded by MEPC.
The site lies within the scheduled area of the Roman governor's palace and, although the existing basements had truncated the stratigraphy to within 0.3m ( 1ft) of the natural brickearth, evidence for Roman foundations and more deeply-cut post-medieval features survived.
The brickearth was located at a depth of approx. 9.8m OD. The earliest phase of activity consisted of a site-wide levelling of
homogeneous sandy gravel, capped with fine hard silty redeposited brickearth, which produced no finds but is assumed to be Roman. These layers were cut by the foundations of timber-framed structures and mortared flint-rubble footings. The extensive ground preparation and certain similarities of alignment suggest that the structures were elements of a single building. No floors survived, although a number of tesserae were recovered from intrusive contexts.
The building, or buildings, were succeeded by a series of rectangular shafts which could not be fully excavated as they were more than 2m (6.5ft) deep. They are interpreted as wells and were probably timber-lined, although no trace of timbers survived. The fills produced finds of predominantly Roman date.
Due to the depth of truncation, there was no evidence for early medieval activity. Later features consisted of a chalk-built cellar or cesspit, which contained finds of 15th-16th c date, and a chalk-lined well, over 5m (16ft) deep. The well was backfilled in the early 18th c and contained complete wine bottles and pharmaceutical jars in impressive quantities. A late medieval gold finger-ring was also recovered.

108 Cannon Street TQ 3276 8085 (N. Shepherd).
Between June and October 1988 a controlled watching brief funded by Speyhawk Mount Row Ltd, took place after demolition.
Two main areas were investigated and natural was found to be truncated at a height of 8.91-9.40m OD. Apart from a fragment of a possible surface only cut features survived. Gravel quarries and refuse-pits dating to the 12th and 13th c were observed, probably representing an open area to the S of buildings fronting onto Cannon Street. The only evidence for these buildings was a chalk and ragstone-lined cellar or cesspit, demolished after 1550.

54-66 Carter Lane, 1-3 Pilgrim Street and 29-33 Ludgate Hill TQ 3180 8110 (M. R. Gavin & B. Watson).
Excavations funded by Eagle Star Assurance and London and Paris Properties were undertaken in two phases during November 1987 to March 1988 and June to July 1988.
The earliest features were the truncated pits and portions of the ditches of a Norman period (1050-1200) fortress, (perhaps Montfichet's Tower). Two phases of ditch aligned broadly E-W were located along the N side of Carter Lane. Both ditches terminated along the line of Cobb's Court alley at the W side of the site, approx. on the line of the N-S Roman and Norman city wall. The earliest S ditch did not extend right across the site; it was over 7.0m (23ft) long, some 5.0m (16ft) wide and 1.2m (4ft) deep. The terminal at its E end may mark the position of an entrance into the fortress. The later S ditch (which presumably destroyed the rest of the earlier ditch), represents a re-alignment and widening of the defences. It was 16m (52ft) wide and over 4m (13ft) deep. This ditch has now been traced for 41m (135ft) to the E along Carter Lane (see Excavation Round-up 1987). The lowest excavated fills date to 1050 to 1200.
The N ditch was aligned E-W, parallel to the Ludgate Hill street frontage. The ditch was 6.8m (22ft) wide, 2.8m (9ft) deep and at least 11.5m (38ft) long; the W extent of the ditch is unknown, but it did not reach the line of the city wall line as it was not found during salvage recording at 37 Ludgate Hill (Trans LAMAS 22 pt. 3 (1970) 9). The dating evidence for these ditches was limited as only the later S ditch produced Norman material; the others produced only Roman finds. The great quantity of Roman material probably derived from the reduction of the earth bank behind the city wall.
Within the area between the two sets of ditches (the bailey) were a number of cess and rubbish pits cut into natural gravel and brickearth. Some of these pits contained Norman material, but many contained only Roman finds. This fortress was probably a motte and bailey complex on Ludgate Hill inside the city walls. The fortress was defended by ditches on three sides, approx. in line with modern streets (N, Ludgate Hill; E, probably Creed Lane; S, Carter Lane) and with the city wall on the fourth side. The existence of a motte, towards the E side of the fortress, can be postulated from the volume of material the excavation of the ditches would have produced.
It is documented that the fortress was in ruins by 1272, and in either 1274 or 1276 the Dominicans acquired it as a stone quarry to provide materials to help build their new friary nearby. The later S ditch was systematically infilled (date 1150-1350), then used as part of the friary cemetery (Archaeologia 63 (1912) 000). Sixty articulated inhumations were excavated on the present site, 13 of which were in a mass grave, 2 in a double grave and the rest were single burials. Twenty-five had evidence of wooden coffins; there was also one lead coffin. There were 5 possible empty or unused graves. The overall plan of the graves showed a regular layout. Finds from the grave fills indicate a 13th or 14th c date; two graves may be as late as c 1500. After the Dissolution, a rectangular chalk-walled cellar (internal dimensions 3.10 x 2.40m, l0ft 2in x 7ft l0in) was built during the late 16th c. The cellar was used as a lead-smelting or casting workshop. It was damaged by fire in the mid 17th c and a brick paved floor and stairs were added. The cellar was then used as a coal store and became a rubbish dump during the 18th c. Contemporary with the later use of the cellar were a number of brick-lined cesspits of 17th and 18th c date. Almost all traces of the associated buildings were destroyed by Victorian basements. The major exception to this destruction was an area of standing masonry (party wall between 54/56 Carter Lane and 113 and 6 Ludgate Square) which was surveyed. The earliest masonry was ragstone rubble containing a number of medieval moulded stones; above this was a large area of late 17-18th c brickwork, containing no architectural features except part of a chimney flue.
No Roman features were identified; the Roman finds, which include a copper alloy belt, a shale bowl and two brooches, were residual within later deposits. Several of the medieval burials were accompanied by grave-goods, in the form of belt-fittings, pins, a spindle-whorl and a 'prunted' glass beaker. Quantities of later medieval moulded stones were retrieved from post-medieval contexts, which included also a glass vessel, wig-curlers and an axe.

9 Cloak Lane, Skinners Hall kitchen TQ 3253 8088 (J. Ayre & R. Harris).
In January-March 1988 excavations, sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Skinners, Reinhold plc and Ranelagh Developments Ltd, investigated two areas. In one of them, Skinners' Hall kitchen in the S part of the site, over 4m (13ft) of stratigraphy survived. A watching brief was undertaken from September 1988 till the end of the year while the rest of the site was reduced.
In the N trench, overlying the alluvial deposits of the Walbrook, which ran down the E edge of the site, were a number of Roman timber drains running E into the Walbrook. They were covered by more alluvial deposits which in turn were overlain by an extensive yard surface. Patched and resurfaced numerous times, the surface sloped gradually down towards the Walbrook. It was constructed of building debris and contained much painted wall plaster. The other Roman feature on the site was a plain tessellated floor. The floor was covered by dark earth with a high content of building material including stamped roof tiles.
During the medieval period the area seems to have been divided into a number of properties. Numerous floors were excavated but few associated walls survived. This appears to be due to the continuity of property boundaries and the insertion of a large chalk gravel foundation in the late medieval period. The building phases were interspersed with phases of pits. Several were wicker-lined and one appeared to have wooden sides and 'lid'. In the E property the pits were larger and several contained industrial residues.
In the S trench the dark earth dumps were exposed but not excavated. They were truncated by a medieval building with a mortar floor to the E and external gravel yard surfaces and well to the W, property boundaries being defined by two large stone drains with yellow brick vaulted roofs, one running N-S along the E side of the site, the other E-W through the middle of the site. The larger E drain was thought to have contained the enclosed course of the Walbrook; the other running into it to have contained a previously unrecorded tributary. A building to the S, also with external surfaces and a well to the W, was seen in the watching brief.
In the post-medieval period the N building was replaced with (see Agas' map c 1559) and large brick-lined cesspits. A brick building re-used the foundations to the S but only a large tile hearth and part of a flagstone floor were recorded. After the Great Fire the same foundations were re-used for the new buildings, but the hearth was filled in as were the pits to the W. Cesspits continued to be dug in this area, producing a large variety of environmental remains. The garden area was re-established (see Ogilby and Morgan's map of 1676); a small part of a curved garden wall and path were recorded.
The finds assemblage from this site is dominated by building materials, which include nineteen examples of Roman tegulae with a civilian form of stamp. Much painted wall plaster was recovered from a confined area of the site. Medieval finds were sparser but include a chalk toy 'house' recovered from a rubbish pit. The cesspits of Skinners' Hall kitchen were filled with 17th c ceramics, bottle glass and an exotic array of faunal remains, including duck, hare, eel and wild bird.

St Bartholomew the Great Churchyard, Cloth Fair TQ 3197 8173 (K. Wooldridge).
For 5 weeks in April-May 1988 excavations were carried out within the churchyard of St Bartholomew the Great Church, jointly funded by HRMC and the parish. The archaeological excavation preceded the development by the parish of part of the churchyard. The area of excavation, measuring approx. 75 sq.m (800 sq.ft), was located between the 14th c Lady Chapel and Cloth Fair.
The earliest features were two linear ditches running approx. E-W. They were sealed by a metalled surface containing some sherds of abraded Roman pottery. A definite date for this surface has yet to be established. It was sealed by deposits through which many inhumations had been made.
Sixty-six articulated and seventy-five disarticulated inhumations were recorded. In addition to the inhumations, two rectangular chalk and mortar features, adjacent to the N wall of the Lady Chapel, may have been tombs or burial vaults. All of the inhumations and the possible tombs are presumed to date from after the foundation of the priory in 1123.
The earliest wall foundation recorded was a semicircular chalk and rammed gravel structure pre-dating the main foundations of the 14th c Lady Chapel. The position of the semicircular structure suggests that it may have been an apsidal chapel to the chancel of the 12th c church.
Two phases of construction were identified in the exposed foundations of the 14th c Lady Chapel. The different phases of foundation suggested that at least part of the Lady Chapel had been constructed before the demolition of the E end of the 12th c church.
Following the dissolution of the priory, the Lady Chapel was sold for private use. Some evidence for its post-Dissolution use came from a pit next to the Lady Chapel wall, which contained 1,857 18th c pipe clay wig curlers, as well as much post-medieval glass and pottery.

80 Coleman Street TQ 3267 8152 (A. T. Mackinder).
In June-July 1988 partial demolition allowed a 7-week excavation, funded by City Holdings Ltd. It revealed two parallel E-W Roman ditches, which were backfilled with domestic rubbish and sealed by a dump containing evidence of burning. There were also traces of a brickearth building that was disturbed by extensive pitting to the S. In the medieval period, there was another E-W ditch, partly wood-lined, and a pit containing slag.

10-12 Copthall Avenue TQ 3279 8142 (D. M. R. Lees).
Between October and early December 1988, London and Edinburgh Trust plc funded excavations which revealed up to 2m (6.5ft) of undisturbed Roman stratigraphy. The L-shaped trench on the N of the site covered roughly. 35 sq.m (380 sq.ft); a section to the S was also investigated.
A Walbrook tributary is recorded in the area, and, although the excavations did not reveal the river channel, the sequence began with river-lain sands and gravels. Into this tributary area material had been dumped to level up the ground for 2nd c Roman building works. In the W portion of the site ran a NE-SW gravel road. Fronting on to this road were well-preserved baseplates and floors of two timber-framed buildings. Between the two buildings ran a gravel alley and a timber-lined gully lying W-E. They ran off into another timber-lined drain running along the E edge of the road. The two buildings went out of use before the mid 3rd c when the two drains were recut and the road resurfaced.
The area appears to have become increasingly wet, and during the mid to late 3rd c flood deposits covered the site, the road and drains falling out of use. The site appears to have been open land with some possibly agricultural activities taking place until the mid 4th c when large-scale dumping covered the entire site, probably to raise the ground surface above the water table. The basement of the modern building truncated the stratigraphy at this level.
Notable finds were numerous fragments of various glass vessels which included jars, jugs, bottles and an indented howl. The samian was of good quality with some ten stamps. Of the metal objects an almost complete copper alloy ligula and an iron horse-bit were the most outstanding.

62-64 Cornhill TQ 3302 8115 (F. M. Meddens).
Archaeological investigations were carried out between February and May 1988, funded by Greycoat Group plc. Of the five trenches opened up, three revealed up to 4m (13ft) of stratigraphy.
The site was situated near the intersection of the N-S Roman road along present-day Bishopsgate with the Roman road passing E-W along the N side of the second basilica complex, roughly across the present Cornhill. No remains of either of these roads were uncovered. A large quarry had been dug in order to extract both brickearth and gravel. It appears likely to have been located in an open yard area.
The heavily truncated remains of several mudbrick structures were located. The robbed foundations of a number of stone building were present; in one area, three phases of stone construction appear to have been robbed in the Roman period. The last of them consisted of a building with an apsidal end, which would have fronted onto the main N-S road.
Elsewhere was found what may have been a broken crucible with quantities of liquid mercury. It rested on a hearth set on a floor which was sealed by a dump of Roman date.
Where the Roman deposits were not truncated by later developments they were sealed by a mixed layer of what appeared to be garden soil and destruction rubble. This suggests that in the immediate post-Roman period the site was abandoned.
When the site was occupied again the evidence suggests an open area, possibly at the back of properties or in a courtyard space, primarily employed for rubbish disposal from early medieval times to the 16th c. It appears that from the 16th or 17th c to the late 19th/early 20th c buildings occupied the site, of which basement and cellar remains were uncovered.
Fragments from two Roman Purbeck marble mortars came from the site, as well as several medieval honestones and a quantity of post-medieval glass which included both bottles and phials.

2 White Lion Court, Cornhill TQ 3301 81 17 (R. Bartkowiak & B. Watson).
A watching brief funded by Greycoats plc was carried out in December 1988 during the excavation of a lift shaft base, as part of the refurbishment of the standing 18th c building. This operation revealed an L-shaped length of coursed chalk and rubble masonry standing over 2.9m (9.5ft) high, interpreted as the SW corner of a 15th or 16th c undercroft, with a floor of crushed chalk rubble and mortar at 12.84m OD. This structure was cut into a homogeneous garden soil of uncertain date.

14-18 Eastcheap TQ 3304 8080 (M. O'D. Shea).
During mid-June to early July 1988 a week of excavations and two weeks of watching brief were sponsored by Peachey Development plc. The site, where the medieval church of St Andrew Hubbard (first mentioned in 1202) was located before the Great Fire, was mostly double-basemented and only the SE sector was excavated. Natural gravels and brickearth were overlain by an apparently site-wide horizon of redeposited brickearth. The surviving archaeology consisted mainly of intrusive features: wall foundations, pits and a chalk-lined well. The only surviving horizontal archaeology of any note were gravel metallings (at 11.14m OD) resting on top of the redeposited brickearth, but they were truncated on all four sides. The metallings could conceivably be the faint remains of a road, or more likely, a series of gravel paths. Only inconclusive evidence was provided, therefore, for a Roman road continuing eastwards from Cannon Street.

88-93 Fenchurch Street TQ 3351 8108 (D. A. Dunlop).
Excavation was undertaken in two phases between May and October 1988, the main trenches being excavated before demolition, and two more trenches after; funding was provided by P & 0 Development Ltd.
Natural deposits of sand and gravel overlain by brickearth were located at approx. 11.9m OD. A sequence of 1st c clay and timber buildings was recorded in the N of the site, with a subsequent destruction level. This area had been rebuilt in the late 2nd c, with a more substantial building and adjacent courtyard area, the courtyard having a metalled surface. Evidence of Roman light industrial activity was apparent in the S trenches, where floor surfaces were covered by ash, slag, and hearth rake-out. Between these areas lay a brickearth quarry pit and a Roman cesspit. After the destruction of the later Roman structures widespread dumping had taken place over the area, which had in some places been truncated by late medieval pitting. A post-medieval cellar of chalk blocks, and a chalk well which had been lined with tiles, are thought to belong to The Saracen's Head, an inn dating from the 18th c. Widespread truncation had taken place over the site due to modern ground beams, drainage pipes, and other activities.

107 Fenchurch Street TQ 3338 8104 (H. Bishop).
Total demolition of the building allowed an area of 15 x 15m (50ft sq.) to be excavated between April and July 1988, funding coming from the developers, the Corporation of London.
The earliest feature, an E-W road linking the Aldgate area to the Forum, was laid directly onto the natural brickearth. This road was delimited on its N side by a ditch which was later scoured out and recut to take an enclosed wooden drain. The road gravels were then extended over the drain to link up with a courtyard area, to the N. Five road surfaces were discernible, all probably 1st c.
The partition wall of a clay and timber building was found at the edge of the site above an area of yard gravels. A small area of associated floor surface had been badly burnt. A NNW-SSE ditch, probably a property division of the 2nd c, cut through all the gravel surfaces of court and road, but unfortunately modern truncation had removed any relationship between the building and the ditch. On the W side a structure represented by posts set into the yard surface N of the road, was 2m (6.5ft) wide and ran N for at least 4m (13ft) before being truncated by a late 2nd or 3rd c ditch. This ran WSW-ENE across the whole site, cutting the earlier ditch at right angles; it was in use for some time, being continually cut back and repaired as its retaining posts collapsed or rotted. The last phase of Roman activity was a series of almost perfectly circular pits; there was no sign of dark earth.
The only surviving medieval features were a chalk well and intrusive pits, some single, some complex, recut 5 or 6 times, the earliest producing 11th or perhaps 10th c pottery. Brick cellar floors of post-medieval buildings survived immediately above the Roman road surfaces. In two instances very deep strongrooms survived: one was probably vaulted, extending under an alley to the W, Fenchurch Buildings; the other to the; E was originally reached by ladder, and later was refloored and provided with a brick stair.

12-15 Finsbury Circus TQ 3288 8168 (P. Askew).
Excavation funded by MEPC Developments Ltd took place between June and August 1988. Large-scale intrusive activity, identified as the foundations of the London Institution built in 1817, confined the areas of excavation to two trenches, one (A) aligned N-S measuring 11 x 2m (36 x 6.5ft) on the E side, and one (B) aligned E-W measuring 7 x 2m (23 x 6.5ft), to the SW.
Natural gravel was located at c 8.90m OD. The earliest activity was found in Area A and was represented by a flexed inhumation aligned E-W with the head to the W, and a possible associated superstructure which was demolished before the construction of an E-W aligned cobbled road in the early 2nd c. Activity following the disuse of the road was indicated by the presence of redeposited brickearth with a series of six burials, four of which were aligned E-W, and two cremation pits cutting through it. Two of the burials contained whole pots, one of black-burnished ware, as yet undated, and the other of colour-coated ware from Cologne, provisionally dated to the late 2nd/early 3rd c. Evidence of truncation, post-dating the cemetery, was indicated by the shallow depth of the graves and the absence of the brickearth in all but the N quarter of the trench, and was also represented by the construction of a drainage channel filled with marsh deposits sealing the Roman stratigraphy.
Similar activity in this later period was recorded in Area B with the presence of a NW-SE aligned channel also containing marsh deposits. No evidence of any earlier Roman activity was identified; although disarticulated human remains, probably of Roman date, were found at the bottom of the channel, they were presumably residual.
Sealing the marsh was a series of later medieval dumps approx. 1.40m (4ft) in depth in both areas of the site. In Area A a ditch aligned E-W 1.40m (4ft) deep cut through the dumps which contained backfill dating to the 17th c.

Leith House, 47-57 Gresham Street TQ 3235 8137 (D. E. Hart).
Six trenches were excavated between April and July 1988 in advance of demolition; work was generously funded by Land Securities Properties Ltd.
The earliest use of the site was represented by the brickearth sill of a timber building and two parallel, steep-sided ditches. All of these early features shared the same E-W alignment. Also belonging to the earliest use of the site was a large quarry pit.
Later, a large part of the site was levelled by the dumping of redeposited brickearth, in the late 1st or early 2nd c. Directly succeeding the levelling were a metalled trackway, two shallow ditches and a stone-walled building, all sharing the same alignment as the earlier linear features. A cellar, or half cellar, with a tile floor was then constructed, possibly much later.
Definite medieval occupation of the site was represented by a series of rubbish pits (10-12th c) and a series of cellar floors (11-13th c). Remaining strata were truncated by the basement slab of the standing building.
Most finds from this site are of Roman date and included twelve crucibles, mostly in Verulamium white ware, a ligula and several fragments of quernstones.

Guildhall Art Gallery, Guildhall Yard TQ 3251 8136 (N. C. W. Bateman).
Between June 1987 and May 1988 an excavation by the Corporation of London took place on the site Guildhall Art Gallery, which was being demolished as part of a major redevelopment along the E side of Guildhall Yard. An area of c 30 x 30m (100 ft sq.) was available in this first phase, but not all could be excavated because of the presence of large masonry foundations crossing the site and dividing it up into seven discrete areas of excavation.
Through most of the site, gravel and brickearth was truncated at c 9.00m OD by the construction a very large ( ? lst c) Roman masonry building which has been provisionally identified as an amphitheatre. Substantial lengths of the inner perimeter wall, and the walls forming the ceremonial entrance at the E end the arena with two flanking chambers, were recorded in the separate areas. Sequences up to lm (3ft) thick of internal and external surfaces were also recorded. A number of substantial timber features were associated with the amphitheatre, including several revetted drains with plank tops; two related settling tanks; at least two phases of very large sill-beams marking a porch-like structure in front of the ceremonial entrance; a number of threshold beams in the main entrance and subsidiary doorways; and a row of timber posts in front of the main perimeter wall. The row of posts and some of the lowest surfaces may belong to a phase of activity preceding the amphitheatre, possibly a timber amphitheatre.
The amphitheatre was evidently still in use (though not necessarily as an amphitheatre) in the mid 4th c, but was then robbed and the site apparently abandoned. The whole site was sealed by up to 1.5m (5ft) of dark earth, which was itself sealed by early medieval rubbish pits of very different sizes and orientations. A group of interconnecting medieval gullies and trenches in the S of the site may have been industrial. In the N of the site the substantial remains of the 15th c Guildhall Chapel were recorded (see Excavation Round-up 1987), comprising foundations of the S aisle and of all four walls of the nave, up to 3.0m (10ft) high. A number of substantial but isolated chalk foundations which may have been part of other buildings connected with the 15th c Guildhall were also recorded. All contemporary ground levels, internal and external, had been truncated by the insertion of the 19th c basement of the former Art Gallery. Work on the dating and phasing of the Roman and later structures is still in progress; phase 2 of the excavation continues under Guildhall Yard.
From this multi-period site medieval finds were the most noteworthy: twenty medieval buckles and a buckle plate, four copper scales, a pendant and a whole pair of tweezers; a bone weaving comb fashioned from a cattle metapodial; two counters and two dice. Ninety-six coins were retrieved, some of which were Roman. A most unusual object was a tortoise-shell weaving tablet; these are usually made from bone.

Harp Lane TQ 3322 8067 (A. T. Mackinder).
From January to August 1988 contractors cut a series of tunnels for British Telecom under Lower Thames Street. One tunnel 26m (85ft) long from Harp Lane S to Lower Thames St revealed an E-W clay bank 3.30m ( 11 ft ) wide within timber planks and a series of dump deposits. Another tunnel to the W along the S edge of Lower Thames St followed the course of an E-W brick sewer, and exposed a chalk-built cellar. No finds were recovered and dating is problematic.

Barnard's Inn, Holborn TQ 3126 815 1 ( N . J. Elsden).
Five trenches, both inside standing buildings and outside, were excavated between March and June 1988, in advance of demolition work, and funded by the Mercers' Company.
An initial phase of gravel-pit digging in the S of the site was followed by a levelling of redeposited natural gravels, probably during the 1st and 2nd c. This was followed by three burials dating from the 2nd to possibly the 4th c; to the W a possible stake and wattle fence-line was separated from the burials by a N-S ditch. These features were covered by an accumulation representing disuse of the area until the gardens of the medieval and later periods. This deep layer of garden soil was cut by pits throughout its life, mostly for domestic rubbish, but including a large cesspit or soakaway.
In the centre of the site the earliest features were two large gravel pits, or possibly E-W ditches, and smaller pits. They were later levelled with a clay dump, which was in turn cut by more pits and by a ditch or pit with a chalk lining used as a cesspit or a sewer. These features were in turn levelled with the make-up for a chalk-walled building. A section of wall of similar construction was preserved to the N, within the basement of the hall of Barnard's Inn (early 15th c), where large and small postholes indicated internal features, possibly medieval. The modern wall line cut across a chalk-walled cesspit, probably lying originally half underneath and half outside the hall. A large circular pit may have been a robbed-out well, and later features included a post pad over the backfill of one of the large postholes, and the burial of a cat, or its skin, in a wooden box.
To the S of the medieval hall, a large gravel pit was cut through the garden soil, and post-medieval dumps and disturbed garden soil covered most of the site. Brick cellars were constructed in the 17th and 18th c, along with, in the 18th c, a brick-1ined well.
Features were disturbed by the 19th c reconstruction of the hall and construction of other standing buildings, including the Mercers' School in 1892-4.
The excavations produced a number of burials of Roman date. A complete Verulamium white-slipped face pot contained a cremation burial and a further cremation was enclosed within a cist formed of six complete lydion bricks. An inhumation burial was accompanied by a necklace of 66 jet beads, a jet finger-ring and a bone pin.

65-68 Leadenhall Street, 98 Fenchurch Street TQ 3343 8110 (J. Brown).
Excavations funded by Gable House Estates took place in December 1987 and January 1988 in the basement of the standing building. Natural brickearth occurred at 11.40m OD at the S of the site, and at 12.40m OD in the N. This gradient meant that horizontal stratigraphy survived only at the Fenchurch Street end.
The initial activity on the site consisted of a V-shaped ditch of early 1st c date, oriented E-W; it was devoid of finds, but by analogy with a length of the same ditch excavated on the neighbouring site (94-97 Fenchurch Street) is thought to have had some military function. After partial backfilling of the ditch, rubbish pits were dug and some flimsy timber structures erected. There followed a succession of strip buildings of clay and timber construction, dated to the lst and early 2nd c. To
the E of most of these buildings, which were all aligned NW-SE, was evidence for an external area, probably a courtyard. These buildings were replaced in the 2nd c by a building, probably of masonry construction, which underwent later robbing. The site was then used for rubbish and cesspits in both the Roman and medieval periods, and was built on again in the 17th c, as shown by cellar walls.
Among the few finds of note were a shale bracelet and a stone spindle-whorl, both of Roman date.

80 - 84 Leadenhall Street T Q 3343 8114 (M. Ryan).
From February to May 1988, an excavation funded by Prudential Portfolio Managers Ltd took place. The site lies within the precincts of Holy Trinity Priory and is adjacent to St Katherine Cree Church, which escaped the Great Fire of 1666.
Massive intrusion by the modern building broadly divided the site into two areas. Excavations in the area to the E recorded natural brickearth at 12.22m OD. After extensive levelling there followed a period of intense Roman activity featuring two buildings: the earlier, of clay and timber construction, was oriented NE-SW, and was seen to have undergone several phases of reconstruction and repair although adhering to the same layout, and perhaps use, throughout. It was subsequently replaced by a masonry building, represented by a partly robbed-out chalk wall and associated exterior surfaces.
In the area to the W beside St Katherine Cree, another Roman sequence was recorded. Here rather less substantial remains of a masonry building were found; they included an opus signinum floor and successive occupation layers. This area was largely truncated by pits, above which a heavily scorched brickearth structure or building was discovered; evidently burnt in situ, it was followed by immediate collapse, part of which included the remains of a plaster wall or ceiling. Further collapse ensued during a period of inactivity and disuse.
Also discovered at c 13.12m OD were two adjoining Roman roads and their respective ditches. One ran E-W just N of Leadenhall Street, with a ditch to the S where, besides periodic patching and repairs, two distinct phases of construction could be seen. The other ran NE-SW with a timber-lined drain to its W, to which the clay and timber building was aligned.
Much of the site was sealed by a deposit of dark earth. This was truncated in the E by an early medieval cellar, and by a rectangular timber-lined pit. In the area to the W, a ragstone and chalk foundation was almost certainly associated with the nearby church. Two phases of simple timber coffin burials were also recorded.
Finally, a large, rather later building was recorded, comprising a row of structural columns, oriented N-S and set at precise intervals apart, from which two walls ran to the E. An entire brick cellar was also discovered but not recorded because of hazardous conditions. It is hoped that there will be an opportunity to investigate this in a watching brief.
There were few finds of note, with the exception of a Roman shale bracelet, a medieval iron horseshoe and a copper alloy buckle.

Little Britain TQ 3210 8160 (D. Lakin & I. M. Greig).
Phase 2 of the Little Britain excavations took place between February and November 1988, following M. Nally's excavations in 1986-7 (see Excavation Round-up1987), again funded by Wimpey Property Holdings. A further 8 trenches were fully excavated, 6 test pits and a test trench recorded, and a watching brief maintained over the remaining area.
Earliest occupation is represented by a complete late Saxon pit sunk into what could be a very truncated occupation surface, pits of apparently similar date, and a few possibly Roman ditches and pits cut into natural.
The trenches around the former Westmoreland Buildings showed best survival; a medieval chalk cellar located in 1986/7 was fully excavated, together with adjacent and underlying pits. Both chalk-built and wattle-lined cesspits were found, some with timber bracing.
In the N part of the site, traces of a chalk building survived in an area which may be within the precinct of St Bartholomew's priory. The natural brickearth and gravel rises northwards and only a few truncated pits and a barrel-lined well remained. Elsewhere, a series of ditches, apparently property boundaries with several stages of use, pits and soil layers may indicate the arrangement of the tenements. Although excavations could not take place sufficiently close to the street frontages to locate any structural remains, a large curving ditch may relate to London House, a former residence of the bishops of London.
The watching brief will continue until development is complete; small areas remain to be demolished at Bartholomew Close and adjacent to Postman's Park.
Finds of note from the 1988 phase include 119 moulded stones of 16th c date, a 17th c gold ring found in the backfill of a disused medieval cellar and abundant vessel glass from medieval and post-medieval cesspits. Amongst the glass fragments were two alchemists' distilling vessels. Metal-detecting carried out on site by a member of the Society of Thames Mudlarks and Antiquarians produced a copper stud of early medieval date with a depiction of a back-turned griffin.

Docklands Light Railway Shaft opposite 80 Lombard Street TQ 3275 8107 (P. Rowsome).
Archaeological excavations and a watching brief funded by Olympia and York (Canary Wharf Development Company Ltd) and facilitated by Docklands Light Railway, were carried out between July and November 1988 as part of the coverage of the DLR Bank Extension. The work allowed the recording of 3.6m (12ft) of stratified deposits beneath the present street surface.
Natural sands and gravels survived to a maximum height of 10.3m OD and were cut by a large quarry pit of 1st c date. A sequence of external dumped deposits indicated that the area, which lay c 40m (130ft) to the N of a main E-W Roman street, remained open following initial quarrying. In the 2nd c dumping gave way to structural activity and occupation. Elements of a partially-robbed masonry building were aligned with the street to the S; one of the rooms contained a tessellated pavement. Part of a structure composed of Roman brick and opus signinum was recorded to the E and may have been part of a hypocaust system in an associated but undefined room of the same building.
Modem truncation had removed much of the later sequence. No evidence of a late and post-Roman sequence survived other than the cellar areas and walls of an 18th c building located along the S side of Lombard Street. This building was demolished in the early 19th c to make way for the construction of King William Street.
Finds from this site were scarce, apart from the in situ Roman building materials. The latter included a complete roller-stamped flue tile and a complete combed box flue tile used in conjunction with pilae to support a floor. Numerous lydion and bessalis bricks were recovered as well as tesserae made (usually) from chalk, greensand and shale. Non-ceramic finds include a Roman bow brooch and a pointed bone implement of late Saxon date.

London Wall (opposite 48 London Wall) TQ 3276 8154 (A. T. Maclunder & A. Woodger).
In January 1988 contractor's work for British Telecom in the middle of the road revealed a stone-built culvert which conducted a tributary of the Walbrook through the Roman wall. It was 1.20m (4ft) wide at its base and 0.90m (3ft) from roof to floor. It extended S from the inner face of the wall and was probably of medieval date. It probably connected with an identical culvert recorded in 1983, further to the S at 15-35 Copthall Avenue, 45-50 London Wall.

85 London Wall (Blomfield House) and 53 New Broad Street TQ 3297 8151 (D. Sankey).
Between January and April 1988 an investigation sponsored by Trafalgar House Developments was undertaken which included the excavation of two, broadly linear, areas through the defences outside the city wall, a watching brief concurrently on site groundwork, and photogrammetric recording of the city wall.
Beneath and therefore preceding the city defences on the E side of the site were found two successive wooden buildings of the 1st and 2nd c. The first was aligned with the Walbrook tributary to the W (the line of Blomfield Street) and had one wall built in an interlocking upright plank technique previously assumed to be typically medieval. Adjacent to this building was a substantial box drain over lm (3ft 3in) deep.
The development of a drainage system was traced from a small land drain running NE-SW on the E side of the site, through the box drain mentioned above, via a system of parallel ditches to a large defensive ditch 5m (16ft) wide and 1.5m (5ft) deep that accompanied the construction of the Roman city wall, immediately to the S. This drainage system was subject to extreme fluctuations in flow, presumably reflecting changes in land use upstream, leading to the deposition of up to 1.5m (5ft) of sediments on the W side of the site.
During this period of natural aggradation, burials were inserted, many of which were then disturbed by erosion, leading to a mixed deposit of human bone, leather sandals, and funerary pots holding offerings of chickens and coins. Also recovered was a scatter of over 500 forger's coin moulds, some of which were of later 3rd c low denomination bronze coins. After more silting in this area, a masonry structure was built against the outer face of the city wall. This badly-truncated structure was apparently at first a bastion and was then altered, perhaps for a non-defensive purpose.
More fluvial deposition followed, deriving from the Walbrook tributary to the W, and continued in the medieval period, when drier parts of the site were used for agriculture and perhaps for grazing, evidenced by a fence line. This was followed by the cutting of a large city ditch, lm (3ft in) deep and 12.5m (41ft) wide, in the early 17th c, reversing the flow of the drainage system, and taking water from the Walbrook around the outside the city. It may also have removed any evidence for a medieval ditch.
Above the ditch sediments the area was covered by large landfill dumps of domestic waste and building debris, possibly from buildings post-dating the Great Fire. A well in the NW corner was perhaps part of the 18th c housing development known as Petty France.
The lengths of the upstanding city wall exposed along the S side of the site revealed details of both face and core. The face of the Roman wall includes the ferruginous sandstone plinth, four ragstone courses and the first tile string course, but the core of this wall survives to above the second tile string course. The core of the Roman wall was poured from above, leaving clear tip lines at 45o, the angle of repose. The medieval face of the wall utilised reworked Roman core blocks of ragstone and tiles and the medieval core used new materials such as flint and chalk. A post- Great Fire redbrick church precinct wall on a sandstone plinth, visible from the pavement, was recorded directly above the sequence.
The wall is preserved as a scheduled ancient monument and a panel exposing the face of the medieval wall is to be left uncovered for public inspection.
Other finds from this site included part of a ceramic Langewehe horn, and most of a decorated Montelupo plate.

60-61 Long Lane TQ 3194 8175 (A. T. Mackinder).
In February 1988 refurbishment of a 19th c building revealed a subdivided chalk and brick cellar 3.20 x 1.80m (10.5 x 6ft). This was backfilled in the late 18th c; the backfill included human bones, perhaps deriving from disturbance of burials originally associated with the nearby church of St Bartholomew the Great.

35-45 New Broad Street TQ 3303 8153 (A. Woodger).
A series of twenty test pits dug during 1987 prompted a controlled excavation of this large extramural site between March and June 1988. The investigation was generously funded by Norwich Union.
The site was in a low-lying part of the upper Walbrook valley just to the E of one of the main stream channels which ran on the line of the present Blomfield Street. The site was cut through by a network of small tributaries running down a natural slope in the gravels which lay at 9.50m to the E of the site and 7.50m to the W. During the 2nd c the lower terrace was reclaimed from the stream and the upper terrace was extensively quarried. Roman inhumation burials were found in a small cemetery in the central S part of the site. The site was apparently abandoned from the time of the construction of the city wall in c AD 200 until it was drained in the 14th c.
A substantial E-W ditch at least 4m (13ft) wide along the N of the site was replaced by a line of earth-fast posts 0.3m (lft) in width, probably by the early 17th c. These features most likely represent the S boundary of the St Mary Bethlem Hospital (later Bedlam) which stood from 1247 to 1676 approx. on the site of the present Liverpool Street Station. During most of the 17th c the area was used as a rubbish dump; a group of tenements called Petty France, mentioned by Stow (1598), was represented on site by brick cellars and wells, as well as brick and wood lined rubbish pits. These features were used into the 19th c and probably until the site was developed as offices in 1905. The facades of these offices were retained to the S and E in the present redevelopment.
Finds include a large assemblage of post-medieval kitchen ware, a large Stuart cloth seal, a silver half groat of 1561-1577 and a highly decorated bone handle of late 16th or early 17th c date with Renaissance motifs.

19-25 Old Bailey TQ 3175 8133 (A. Bayliss).
In addition to pre- and post-excavation watching briefs, excavations were undertaken between March and June 1988, funded by P & O Development Ltd. Most of the site had been severely truncated by the basements of the standing buildings, although horizontal stratigraphy did survive under the cobbling of Elliot's Court.
The gravel terrace on the site sloped down to the S and W. Some levelling activity preceded the construction of several kilns in the Roman period. The structure of only one of them survived; no wasters were recovered, but the character of the kiln would suggest that it had been used for the manufacture of fine pottery. Demolition debris observed in the watching brief suggests that there were at least six other such features.
These kilns were replaced by a large octagonal building, 16m (52ft) in diameter, associated with large-scale terracing. This building was probably surrounded by an ambulatory 3.75m (12ft) wide. The whole building would then have enclosed an area of 520 sq.m (5600 sq.ft). It had been completely robbed but red-painted wall plaster, ragstone and opus signinum probably featured in its construction. It has been tentatively interpreted as a Romano-Celtic temple.
The robbing was followed by the construction of a large masonry building of at least nine rooms. This building was rebuilt at least once, and at a later date a hypocaust was added. A coin of 335-341 dates the demolition and robbing of the building to the mid 4th c or later; its function is unclear.
A depth of 0.8m (2ft 7in) of dark earth then accumulated. Several pits cutting into this deposit, including a timber-lined well of Saxo-Norman date, attest to occupation before the construction of a number of chalk buildings, probably in the 13th c. These buildings were aligned to the present street frontages. Later occupation was represented by several cut features.

2-3 Philpot Lane TQ 3303 8090 (A. B. Thomas).
Between November 1987 and January 1988 a series of 38 underpinning holes were excavated in preparation for conversion of a standing building by Philpot Management Ltd. Apart from three small areas, the holes were excavated by the contractors and recorded as sections by DUA staff.
The site was extensively truncated by the basement and subbasement of the existing building, and the surviving archaeological strata varied in depth across the site from approx. 1.50 to 4m (5 to 13 ft).
The Roman sequence started with a major brickearth dump across the site. Above this lay a timber building with possible associated floor surfaces to the W and discrete building areas to the N and E. After the timber building went out of use, a subterranean tile and brickearth double flue was constructed on the W side of the site. Its purpose was not established but it was possibly the fire box and vaulted entrance area for either a hypocaust or an above-ground kiln or oven. Once the flue structure went out of use the whole site was re-developed: a series of major masonry buildings, with at least three successive floors of opus signinum, extended to both the E and W sides of the site.
Medieval activity comprised a series of large deeply cut pits, occasional chalk foundations aligned both N-S and E-W and gravel surfaces across the site.
During the post-medieval period the NE corner of the site was truncated by a large chalk-lined pit approximately 5m (16ft) E-W and 5m (16ft) deep, backfilled with cess and general rubbish on disuse. This was apparently associated, to the S and N. with a deep basement wall built of chalk, moulded ragstone and brick. A brick building was constructed over much of the site in the 18th c: and this survives with some later modifications.
There were few finds of note, although a bone skate and numerous fragments of the outer cope of a ceramic bell-mould were recovered.

Pilgrim Street TQ 3172 8112 (J. Heathcote & W. A. McCann).
As part of the Blackfriars - Holborn Viaduct Development, Rosehaugh Stanhope funded the excavation of an E-W trench, 18. 5m (59 X 16ft), running down the roadway in Pilgrim Street between Ludgate Broadway and Waithman Street.
The central area of the trench was severely truncated by numerous service ducts and a live sewer lying 3.5m (11.5 ft) below present road surface. On the N side substantial remains of the medieval city wall were located. Running the full length of the trench, it survived to a height of 2.8m (9ft) above foundation level. Built between 1283 and 1320, this wall enclosed the Blackfriars precinct within the city limits.
Only the S face of the wall was observed, showing three distinct phases of construction. The predominant materials used were squared blocks of Kentish Ragstone, regularly coursed, with some tile, flint, greensand and chalk blocks. A number of offsets were observed which were not continuous along the length of the wall but were arranged step-wise in order to cope with the substantial natural slope on this W side of Ludgate Hill.
Towards the E end of the excavated length. the entrance to a bastion which stood on the N face of the wall was located. The entrance was 1.2m (4ft) wide and allowed the width of the wall at this point to be determined as 3.0m (l0ft), although the foundations could not be fully excavated.
The S side of the trench contained the remains of the 18th c frontage of Stonecutter's Alley. Due to the presence of live services it was impossible to fully excavate this but a series of irregular brick foundations, including a threshold, were observed.
The most conspicuous finds assemblage from the site consisted of a quantity of mica schist waste, of early medieval date, derived from the cutting of imported raw material into honestones.

Cayzer House, 2-4 St Mary Axe TQ 3326 8120 (V. Ridgeway).
Between July and September 1988 excavations, funded by Bricomin Properties Ltd, were carried out in the basement of the standing building, before demolition.
The basement had truncated deposits to a depth of 12.00m OD, below which only features cut into natural brickearth survived. Towards the E of the site two large, deep timber-lined features were found, possibly storage tanks, dating to the early Roman period. The larger of these in the N, at least 4m (13ft) square and 3m (l0ft) deep, appears to have collapsed and been systematically backfilled with brickearth dumps. Overlying this, surviving due to slumping into the feature, was a series of clay and timber buildings. Subsequently a more substantial later Roman building was constructed with ragstone foundations, robbed out during the medieval period. Contemporary ground level did not survive.
The area was heavily truncated during the medieval period by a series of pits of varying dimensions. No evidence of structures of this period was found, but the alignment of cesspits offers possible evidence of property boundaries. Substantial chalk ragstone foundations of a N-S wall and pier base, provisionally dated to the early post-medieval period, were recorded. Slightly to the W, and presumably associated with the foundations, was a chalk-lined basement of similar date. This contained six successive floors, mainly of chalk and mortar. The final floor was constructed of brick and tile, incorporating Flemish green- and yellow-glazed tiles and a brick hearth. All structures on site respected the same alignment, suggesting continuity of the street plan through to the modern period.
The majority of finds were of Roman date. They include a quantity of painted wall plaster with mock architectural motifs, and part of a 1st c beaker in colourless glass, several bone pins and counters. A number of complete and near-complete jugs in Kingston ware came from medieval pits, and fragments of bell-mould were also present.

 
Sunlight Wharf, Upper Thames Street TQ 3213 8082 (R. Bluer).
Between April 1986 and March 1987, the Department conducted a controlled watching-brief, funded by the LEP Group, during reduction of the ground S of Upper Thames Street between the 19th c LEP House and the new City of London Boys' School, an area encompassing four medieval tenements. Each property produced a sequence of timber revetments along with a number of late medieval arched foundations and post-medieval brick foundations. The earliest recorded revetment, provisionally dated by dendrochronology to the late 12th c, was of substantial staves inserted into a baseplate, and displayed excellent survival to a height of 3.6m (12ft). The property to the E subsequently re-used some of the staves as uprights in a post-and-plank revetment.
For the remainder of the medieval period, a succession of repairs and reclamations were made on each property, resulting in the kind of piecemeal advancement of the waterfront identified in the Trig Lane excavations of 1974-76 (which fell within the area of these investigations). No two revetments seen at Sunlight Wharf were identical; they included techniques not previously seen in London, such as the use of diagonal members parallel to the face of the revetment, half-lapped to the uprights.
Evidence was recovered for lanes leading down to the river from Thames Street. Nineteen metres (two properties) to the E of Trig Lane was a lane which, in the second half of the 13th c ended in a river inlet probably associated with the construction of a building immediately to the E. This was built on substantial arched foundations and was almost certainly the London residence of the Dukes of Norfolk. It was razed to the ground by the Great Fire.
Finds included a large quantity of metalwork including decorative dress fittings and some pieces of popular medieval jewellery; fixtures and fittings such as hinges, keys and locks; knives (14th and 15th C), buckles, pilgrim badges and candlesticks; a large number of coins and tokens, cloth seals and mounts; a quantity of leather and a group of decorated medieval floor tiles.

1-19 Whitefriars Street, 63-67 Fleet Street, 23-24 Bouverie Street, 4 Brittons Court TQ 3141 8110 (J. Stevenson).
An excavation and watching brief funded by Kumagai Gumi UK Ltd were undertaken between January and March 1988.
A central area of the site had been truncated down to the London Clay. At the S end of the site were a number of Roman clay quarry pits; to the N, along the Fleet Street frontage was recorded a sequence of brick features, including a post-medieval brick cellar that truncated the natural gravel. A late medieval undercroft in Brittons Court, part of the Carmelite friary of Whitefriars, was recorded by English Heritage, and removed to be restored in the basement of the new development.

LAARC Archive

158–170 Aldersgate, EC1 TQ 32090 81680 (P Travis).
On the W side of the site there was evidence of structural cut features which may have related to one of the large post-medieval mansions which are documented as lying close to the site. The rest of the site was truncated.

6–8 Bouverie Street, EC4 TQ 31370 81110 (B McCann)
In October 1988 a site code was issued for this site and a visit made to it. A note in the site file describes five underpinning holes which had been excavated, ‘2 in the N and 3 on the S.’ The holes had all reached the level of grey clay which was being removed. Shoring was being inserted so no sections were visible. Probable natural sands and gravels with bands of grey clay were seen in the N, approximately 0.5–0.7m below basement level. They were approximately 1m thick and overlay London Clay. In the S, redeposited gravels appeared to overlie black alluvial deposits which gave way to London Clay. A cut feature, possibly a medieval pit, was observed in one testpit, at least 0.5m deep. There was no sign of any evidence for the cemetery of the Whitefriars, which occupied the site.

Bishopsgate, junction with Brushfield Street, EC2 TQ 33350 81740 (K Wooldridge)
Recorded in two sections in a hole in the road, natural gravels were overlain by humic, waterlaid clay cut by the construction of a masonry foundation which comprised chalk and greensand blocks. Above a silty deposit sealing the masonry was a horizontal timber which may have been associated with the masonry foundation. Silts and waterlaid clays overlay the timber and were sealed by a layer of burnt brickearth and mortar fragments. This was cut by a pit, its fill truncated by two large post-medieval drain trenches, and sealed by concrete. These features are undated; they could have been Roman or, if Bishopsgate was narrower in medieval times, medieval.

23–26 St Dunstan’s Hill, EC3 TQ 33190 80715 (M Hinman)
Natural gravels had been truncated during the construction of the modern building and only undatable pits survived.

21–26 Garlick Hill, EC4 TQ 32380 80900 (C Goode)
This site was watched at the same time as work on the adjacent site of 32–35 Queen Street (QUE88), and combined with it in post-excavation.

DLR shaft, Lombard Street near Pope’s Head Alley, EC3 TQ 32770 81050 (M Burch )
Excavations (immediately W of the DOC87 site) were funded by Olympia and York (Canary Wharf Development Company Ltd) and facilitated by Docklands Light Railway. Natural gravels were cut by small quarry pits and other features. These were sealed by dumps, the surface of which was cut by a number of stakeholes representing a structure, possibly on a SW-NE alignment. Subsequent truncation had removed any evidence of occupation associated with the structure. A large gravel quarry in the NE of the site may have continued into this period; it was backfilled with fire debris and then this and the structure were covered by make-up. Pitting and another general truncation horizon was overlaid by redeposited fire debris before dark earth was deposited and then cut by a substantial trench poured masonry foundation, aligned ESE-WNW. No contemporary ground surface survived and its upper surface was truncated before being overlaid by deposits very similar to the earlier dark earth. These were sealed by cobbled surfaces, probably associated with an early phase of Lombard Street. A large brick sewer dated to 1785 cut through the road surfaces.

6–9 Middle Street, 24–26 Newbury Street, EC1 TQ 32030 81770 (D Lakin)
The natural brickearth was truncated by construction of the modern basement, though a number of post-medieval cut features survived.

109–115 Middlesex Street, E1 TQ 33450 81590 (S Jones)
Natural and redeposited brickearth were cut by a series of Roman quarry pits, two of which predated a W-E ditch. Possibly postdating the ditch were four or five graves which were cut into the natural gravel and represented part of the Roman extramural cemetery, probably from the 2nd c. Both the ditch and the cemetery were disused at the same time before another, less substantial, E-W ditch was dug in the mid 3rd c; quarrying may also have continued up to this time. The site then appears to have been abandoned until the late medieval period when a W-E drainage ditch was cut. Thereafter post-medieval activity was represented by a barrel-lined well, two horn-core lined pits and a brick-lined soak-away.

46 St Mary Axe, EC3 TQ 33320 81320 (M Hinman)
Quarry pits, backfilled before about AD 250, were the earliest recorded features. Systematic dumping and levelling took place until the 4th c; the site then remained open ground until the 14th c when dumping occurred, followed by cultivation, probably in a medieval garden plot. A post-medieval cellar, represented by several floor surfaces, wells and a brick-lined coal store, succeeded this.

72–73 Basinghall Street, EC2 TQ 32530 81350 (Sarah Gibson)
Earliest recorded deposits appear to have been dark earth; these were truncated by the modern basement slab. In two of the testpits lengths of ragstone masonry were revealed and may have been contemporary with pre-15th c foundations recorded to the W at GAG87

Salisbury House, 8 Salisbury Square, EC4 TQ 31500 81050 (J Stevenson)
Most of the site had been truncated and all that survived was in the NE corner of the site: a (truncated) Victorian well which seems to have been infilled in the 1950s.

Trinity House, Savage Gardens, EC3 TQ 33520 80800 (K Wooldridge)
Testpits and a lift shaft were examined. Natural was not reached. The lowest deposit was possibly Roman in date and was truncated by modern foundations, drains and make-up.

123–125 Houndsditch, 22–26 Cutler Street, 7–8 Exchange Buildings, EC3 & E1 TQ 33440 81380 (D Shotliff)
Natural brickearth survived in the testpits in the S part of the site where it was cut by pits or ditches, with made-ground above or truncated by the basement slab. In the N part of the site natural gravels were overlain by redeposited brickearth, possibly a result of quarrying, or by thick deposits of agricultural or garden soil. Disarticulated human bone was also recovered.