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My final geographically themed review focuses on London. I touched on some sites there in my reviews of Roman archaeology and the Thames (CA 330 and CA 343), so these columns will look more widely across modern-day Greater London. There is so much to report from the city that this will inevitably be a snapshot: this month focusing on prehistoric and Roman sites, and next month on medieval and post-medieval ones. An excellent recent ‘state of the city’ report to start with comes in CA 313 (April 2016), which reported on the wealth of sites of all ages examined during the Crossrail Project.
Prehistoric London
Thanks to the long-running Thames Discovery Programme, the river provides the most extensive range of prehistoric sites of Greater London: there have been in-depth reviews in CA 158 (July 1998), CA 244 (July 2010), and CA 350 (May 2019). However, there have been few prehistoric sites and finds reported over the years from elsewhere in the city. The only survey occurred in CA 124 (May 1991), and the only early prehistoric cover-story came in CA 60 (February 1978), on a Mesolithic site in, of all places, the middle of Hampstead Heath. Other sites and finds of this period have since followed, including another surprising find and location – that of a Mesolithic trackway within the grounds of Belmarsh Prison in Woolwich in CA 236 (November 2009). The Neolithic is even more sparsely covered, with the Thames the sole source of any significant finds.
Only in the Bronze Age do the finds increase, and then only modestly. For example, a Bronze Age trackway was reported in CA 143 (June 1995) in Rainham, east London, during the construction of a Tesco superstore there, and CA 358 (January 2020) and CA 368 (November 2020) feature the Havering late Bronze Age hoard. The latter is the biggest single prehistoric find within Greater London of recent times (and the third biggest such hoard of this date in the UK), discovered at Wennington in east London ahead of major gravel-quarrying works. In total, 453 bronze and copper objects and fragments were recovered amid a landscape known to be scattered with Bronze Age enclosures (the site was initially identified thanks to a 1961 aerial photo of an intriguing crop-mark). But perhaps the most famous of all archaeological sites of this era in London is that of the late Bronze Age cursus beneath modern-day Heathrow in west London, examined in depth in CA 99 (February 1986), and re-examined during work on Heathrow Terminal 5 – see CA 256 (July 2011) and CA 407 (February 2024).
Roman London
Roman London is the second most-featured, after Stonehenge, of all the archaeological sites in the history of Current Archaeology. There are good reasons for this: the timeline of the magazine’s launch and growth aligns with the modern-day redevelopment of the City of London, an ongoing process of discovery and reinvention. There is a fascinating interview on this subject with former City of London archaeologist Peter Marsden in CA 333 (December 2017). There have been some stunning discoveries made there over the years, and Current Archaeology’s coverage is suitably rich. Early work in the City of London itself was covered in CA 49 (March 1975), CA 57 (July 1977), and CA 83 (August 1982), and its waterfront was discussed in CA 66 (April 1979). A survey made when the Jubilee line of the London Underground was extended appeared in CA 158 (July 1998), and an earlier review of sites known at the time made the pages of CA 124 (May 1991). Sites of modern-day Greater London – locations that would have been part of the network of rural communities serving the city before they got caught up in its later growth – have also featured. Perhaps most notable among these are those identified during redevelopment in advance of the 2012 London Olympic Games – see CA 339 (June 2018) and CA 342 (September 2018).
From the City of London – Roman Londinium – comes the greatest density of sites and finds. While the main outlines of the city were known by the time Current Archaeology launched in 1967, some notable elements were unidentified – most of all, its amphitheatre. CA 109 (April 1988) reported shortly after its discovery beneath Guildhall Yard; CA 137 (February 1994) followed up in detail; and CA 181 (September 2002) revisited when the new basement gallery opened, which to this day allows visitors to view the remains for free; see also CA 331 (October 2017), on the gladiators who fought there. Another key site in the City is the Governor’s Palace, reported early in the history of Current Archaeology, shortly after its discovery, in CA 8 (May 1968). CA 226 (January 2009), CA 320 (November 2016), CA 383 (February 2022), and CA 387 (June 2022) provide a further perspective on the Palace in terms of other high-status buildings in the later Roman city, the most recent by CA’s founder and editor-in-chief Andrew Selkirk. The Forum then features in, among other issues, CA 19 (March 1970), CA 59 (November 1977), CA 226 (January 2009), and CA 387 (June 2022). Some sense of the bathing needs of the City can also be gained across the years, including at Huggin Hill and Shadwell in CA 115 (June 1989), CA 193 (August 2004), CA 226 (January 2009), and CA 387 (June 2022). For a review of wider ‘water works’, thanks to discoveries around Gresham Street, see also CA 180 (July 2002).
To these can be added the most fascinating site in the city of all, its mithraeum, a site unusual by any standards, and as much part of the history of modern as ancient London thanks to its fame, and changing fortunes, since it was discovered in 1954. CA 266 (May 2012), CA 280 (July 2013), and CA 296 (November 2014) tell the full, fascinating story of this site, now stunningly relocated close to its original find-spot and a free-to-visit highlight of any tour. Beyond the main sites that make up the topography of the Roman city, there have also been some one-off finds worth mentioning. Life and especially death loomed large there, and their literally visceral legacy survives to a remarkable extent. There are burials aplenty – see CA 213 (December 2007) and CA 288 (March 2014) – and evidence of daily lives and livelihoods are revealed in items such as surviving writing tablets from the Bloomberg site, in CA 317 (August 2016). See also, in passing, CA 328 (July 2017) on Roman literacy and CA 355 (October 2019) on the nearby find of a Roman stylus.
Beyond finds in the City of London itself, I flagged the two main surveys of Roman Southwark above. These outline the major discoveries made here over the years. To these can be added two further examples. First, CA 182 (November 2002) and CA 192 (June 2004) reported on finds made around Tabard Square in 2002-2003, including a rare Roman inscription on a plaque from the site that specifically mentions not London but its population – Londoners – amid a wealth of ‘everyday’ finds including a wonderfully preserved pot of moisturising cream into which the finger-marks of the user were still gouged. Second, a consistent thematic focus from the neighbourhood over the years is that of Roman burials: CA 339 (June 2018) and CA 341 (August 2018) showcased the discovery of a Roman sarcophagus and its occupant (a woman over 35 years old), and CA 409 (April 2024) includes an extraordinary array of wooden finds, including the first complete funerary bed from Roman Britain.
Finally, let’s look outside central London. Above I noted the finds made in association with the 2012 London Olympic Games, and in conclusion I will add to these three other honourable mentions from further afield: the review of Roman sites in Greenwich in CA 167 (March 2000); Roman glass found in Islington in CA 241 (April 2010); and the ‘service station’ discovered in Syon Park, Brentford, in CA 260 (November 2011). These reflect the diversity of Roman London, and also hint at the riches to follow next month in my review of the medieval and modern city.
Discover old issues: Read a selection of the articles discussed by Joe for free online at www.archaeology.co.uk/archive416. They will be available for one month from 3 October. Print subscribers can add digital access to the entire back catalogue of CA for just £12 a year – simply call us on 020 8819 5580 and quote ‘DIGI416’.
