Surveying Verulamium: St Albans, Hertfordshire

This article is from Current Archaeology issue 427

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In CA 310, we reported on surveys undertaken by the Community Archaeology Geophysics Group (CAGG) of the Roman city of Verulamium (St Albans, Hertfordshire). At that time, the group, led by Dr Kris Lockyear, had mainly worked in the site’s public park. Since 2015, however, they have been able to survey the other half of the city, which lies under nearby Gorhambury Park, completing 1.1km2 of magnetometry survey over the whole Roman town and some of the extramural areas to the north-west. The team has also completed 35ha (86 acres) of magnetometry survey and 13ha (32 acres) of earth resistance survey in Gorhambury.

The results have revealed a wealth of features in this area. The long linear feature indicated with white arrows in the main image is the town’s aqueduct, which can be traced in sections up the valley to Redbourn. The linear feature indicated by blue arrows is the so-called ‘1955 ditch’: the 1st century boundary of the town, originally traced by Martin Aitkin in one of the earliest magnetometry surveys (described in issue 111 of our sister magazine, Current World Archaeology). The earth resistance data (lower inset) has revealed a mass of buildings, both small and large, in the central area of the town. Perhaps the most spectacular finds, however, are the buildings lying between Watling Steet (the main road heading north-west from London, which runs through Verulamium) and the river Ver. Of these buildings, one has been interpreted as a large ‘palace’ (upper inset) with a colonnade that overlooks the Ver. This is likely to predate the building of the town wall in the later 3rd century AD. We will bring you further details of these discoveries in a future feature.

The surveys at Verulamium are only a part of CAGG’s work. The group has surveyed over 70 sites, mainly in Hertfordshire and nearby counties, since it was founded in 2013. Its work can be seen on the project blog (hertsgeosurvey.wordpress.com); do get in touch if you would like to join in – they provide on-the-job training.

Text: Kris Lockyear / Image: Kris Lockyear, based on data by CAGG