By Jill Lawless
London: Work to give 21st-century London yet another skyscraper has uncovered traces – in fact, chunks – of the city’s origins almost 2000 years ago.
Archaeologists exploring the site of a planned 32-storey office tower announced they have unearthed the remains of a Roman basilica that once stood at the heart of the city known as Londinium.
Far from religious, a Roman basilica was a large civic building, often housing the town’s forum, courts and other government functions.
A representation of how the Roman London basilica, recently unearthed by a redevelopment of a City of London office building, would have looked 2000 years ago. Credit: Peter Marsden via AP
Excavations in the basement of a building slated to be demolished for the tower at 85 Gracechurch Street uncovered flint, brick and ragstone walls and foundations up to one metre wide, four metres deep and two millennia old.
Sophie Jackson of Museum of London Archaeology called it “one of the most significant discoveries” in years in London’s oldest quarter, the City – the 2½-square-kilometre financial district where modern glass high-rises stand atop the remnants of Victorian, medieval and even earlier structures.
What’s been uncovered are the foundations of a two-storey building almost as big as an Olympic swimming pool. It was constructed between AD 78 and 84, about three decades after Roman troops invaded Britain, and some 20 years after forces of the Celtic warrior queen Boudicca sacked the fledgling settlement.
The original basilica was two storeys high and likely housed the forum, other government offices and a market.Credit: AP
The basilica was part of the forum, the social, political and commercial heart of Roman London, where people went to shop, mingle, seek justice and hear the latest edicts from political leaders. The newly discovered remains are believed to form part of the tribunal, a raised area of the forum where politicians and officials made decisions about the city’s governance.
“It’s the beating heart of the city,” said Andrew Henderson-Schwartz, head of public impact at Museum of London Archaeology. “It kind of towers above the city. And so it’s a real symbol of Roman power and authority.
“We’re talking about the early stages of London here, but it’s a real sign of investment in the city, even in its early infancy,” he said.
Developer Hertshten Properties, which owns the site and has planning permission for a new office tower, has agreed to incorporate the remains into its plans and put them on display in a visitor centre.
A view of part of the foundations and a wall of the Roman London basilica found by archaeologists.Credit: MOLA/AP
Henderson-Schwartz said the extent of the “absolutely massive” foundations discovered in several test pits suggests an “extraordinary” level of preservation.
Further digging could answer intriguing questions, including why the original forum was only used for 20 years before being replaced by a much larger one, which remained in use until the collapse of Roman rule in Britain three centuries later. Items such as writing tablets, styluses, even ancient rubbish, could give glimpses into the daily lives of Roman Londoners.
An artist’s impression of the larger basilica, or Roman Country Hall, uncovered by archaeologists at Leadenhall in the City of London in 1986.Credit: AP
Property developers in Britain routinely have to consult archaeologists as part of their planning process, a practice that has uncovered finds from Saxon jewellery to medieval ice skates and the skeletons of 14th-century plague victims.
The latest discovery adds to the scant traces of Roman London that can be seen around the city, including a section of ancient wall, a portion of amphitheatre beneath the Guildhall, and a temple to the god Mithras that lies incongruously under the modern headquarters of information company Bloomberg.
“We do have these little windows into Roman London that are all over the city,” Henderson-Schwartz said. “But this is really in some ways the site that connects them all together. This is the heart of Rome in London, where all the decisions were made.”
AP
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