CITY OF LONDON (LONDINIUM)

(1) 50 Fenchurch Street (TQ 33275 80929): evaluationFootnote ¹¹⁰ within and around the surviving Grade 1 listed tower of All Hallows Staining revealed the remains of first- to second-century buildings. Well-preserved floor and occupation horizons as well as a possible robbed-out wall, beam-slots and a hearth indicate that early Roman activity is well preserved on site.

(2) St Bartholomew's Hospital, West Smithfield (TQ 31835 81500): excavationFootnote ¹¹¹ revealed a series of intercutting refuse pits and/or cesspits at the base of the sequence, dating from the first to second century. The pits had been truncated horizontally by later activity and no contemporary surfaces survived.

(3) 6–8 Bishopsgate/150 Leadenhall Street (TQ33080 81160): excavationFootnote ¹¹² revealed several large late first-century quarry pits, used for the extraction of gravel and sand. One of these at the eastern end of the site had its base at 9.28 m O.D. and was deep into natural gravels. To the east of this was a gully running east–west (parallel with the projected line of the road across the site) lined with stake-holes and with two large post-holes in its base. This may represent a palisade or fenced boundary gully. The second-century archaeology focused on the construction of domestic buildings, made from clay (brickearth) and timber. Heavily truncated timber wall lines were observed, oriented east–west. By the fourth century the site had been turned over for use as an area of refuse disposal, with deep pits full of general waste from food and industry.Footnote ¹¹³

HACKNEY

(1) Project Barley, Shoreditch Village East, Holywell Lane, Shoreditch (TQ 33426 82339): an early Roman field boundary ditch was recorded,Footnote ¹¹⁴ which appeared to have been deliberately filled and sealed by a layer of agricultural soil. This deposit provided level ground for a T-shaped brick and tile flue structure, tentatively interpreted as a late Roman corn dryer.Footnote ¹¹⁵

HAVERING

(1) 90 New Road, Rainham (TQ 50876 82769): excavation revealed numerous features of predominantly Roman date.Footnote ¹¹⁶ In the north-east and north-west of the site, close to the purported route of a Roman road, were pits of various sizes, including large quarry pits, a series of ditches and a number of post-holes. One of the ditches cut through an earlier, likely Iron Age, animal burial and contained numerous post-holes/pits, suggesting fencing. A system of intercutting linear features recorded in the central and southern parts of the site appeared to represent enclosures, associated with pits of varying sizes. In the southern side of the site were stake-holes cutting through alluvium overlying natural gravels, evidence of a revetment. Other features recorded in the southern part of the site include a circular timber-lined pit, interpreted as a well or waterhole, and a series of beam-slots indicative of a timber structure on the foreshore.Footnote ¹¹⁷

SOUTHWARK

(1) Suffolk House, 127–9 and 131 Great Suffolk Street (TQ 32207 79681): evaluationFootnote ¹¹⁸ recorded evidence of peripheral land management during the early to mid-Roman period in the form of a north–south aligned drainage ditch. The horizon sealing this ditch may have been a marshy deposit reflecting inundation. This layer contained Roman pottery and disarticulated human bone, redeposited or washed in from a nearby Roman cemetery, possibly the ‘Southern Cemetery’ excavated in and around Lant Street.

(2) 59 Thrale Street (TQ 32372 80215): three intercutting Roman pits filled primarily with demolition rubble were recorded.Footnote ¹¹⁹ Pottery fragments recovered from the pits dates to a.d. 50–250, with the ceramic building materials dated generally to the Roman period. Large amounts of plaster and roofing debris were present, indicating the possibility of a high-status building in the vicinity of the site; however, no foundations or walls were observed.

TOWER HAMLETS

(1) 2–10 Cobb Street (TQ 33575 81503): excavationFootnote ¹²⁰ recorded ten inhumation graves, likely to be part of the eastern cemetery outside the city wall. The presence of iron nails indicates wooden coffins. Apart from two fragments of one glass vessel, there were no associated grave goods. The small pottery assemblage (59 fragments, 1.499 kg, 1.37 EVEs) spans the entire Roman period, but over half the fragments can be dated to the late first and second centuries. Most sherds were heavily abraded, suggesting a degree of redeposition. A small number of later ditches and pits post-date the cemetery.

(2) 101 Whitechapel High Street (TQ 3389 8144): a truncated sub-rectangular pit dated to a.d. 50–150 was recorded.Footnote ¹²¹ Redeposited human bone was also recovered from a late post-medieval feature, possibly indicating the presence of Roman burials within the vicinity as the site is located close to the main eastern road extending from Londinium.

WANDSWORTH

(1) Thamesfield: hoard of eight nummi: a.d. 330–35 (two from Lyon; four from Trier); a.d. 341–48 (two from Trier). Date of deposition: a.d. 341–48 or later.Footnote ¹²²