This, the 75th MOLA Monograph, presents the important Thames waterfront site at Regis House in the City of London, immediately to the west of London bridge. The chronological focus extends from the pre-Boudiccan to the later Roman period, with the most significant activity concerning the construction in a.d. 63/4 of a timber quay, warehouses and other buildings, which are modified and developed until their destruction in the Hadrianic fire. On the dumped debris of that catastrophic event further masonry buildings are constructed, which fall out of use in the third century, with some areas covered by dark earth in the fourth to fifth centuries.
The report is divided into 13 chapters, with Chs 2–10 describing the stratigraphic sequence, followed by a chapter placing the site into its London and riverine context; the book concludes with a chapter on waterfront woodworking and the specialist appendices. Ch. 1 provides a useful summary of work by Gerald Dunning in 1929–31 on part of the same site, and a re-evaluation of his finds, while Ch. 2 sets out the geological and topographical background. The earliest Roman occupation (c. a.d. 50–60/1) consists of terracing, quarry pits, a ditch possibly related to the bridgehead, two buildings as well as foreshore structures and revetments (Ch. 3). Very soon after the Boudiccan destruction of Londinium, work began on an ambitious port facility consisting of a huge timber quay and a masonry structure interpreted as a warehouse, although domestic (hearths, ovens) and craft activities (glass workshop) took place in it too (Ch. 4). In later phases animals were quartered in one of the bays and there are structured deposits of a neonatal human and an infant goat. Three Vespasianic lead pigs, probably from Charterhouse in the Mendips, were found hidden underneath the floor. Chs 5–7 trace modifications to the waterfront structures and the construction of further buildings in the northern part of the site, up to the Hadrianic fire. This includes the construction of new revetments extending occupation south into the river, possibly because of a fall in river levels. Ch. 8 sets out the evidence for the destruction of the area by fire, which is argued to be a single event, with the fire spreading quickly in the area around Regis House, meaning that many possessions had to be abandoned. The authors refine the date of the fire, which was thought to be a.d. 120–30 based on Dunning’s excavations, to c. a.d. 125–30 based on the decorated samian from the fire debris. Detailed analysis shows that some of the dumped debris was probably moved from other London sites and had been sorted for reusable building materials and salvageable artefacts and therefore may contain some slightly later material.
The thick dumps of debris (up to 2 m!) effectively obscured the earlier layout of the site, with the new structures (including a possible macellum) following a different layout and orientation, facing the bridge and not the Thames (Ch. 9). Their use is traced into the third and in some areas into the fourth century in Ch. 10. The decline and abandonment of the site may relate to the construction of the riverside wall, the demolition of the bridge and the shift of commercial activities to other sites along the Thames.
Regis House is placed into the context of Roman London in Ch. 11, highlighting the involvement of the military in the construction of the bridge and the post-Boudiccan reconstruction effort. Evidence includes leather tent-panel fragments, copper-alloy military equipment, a stamped timber quay baulk thought to record a Thracian auxiliary unit and a coin assemblage with a probable military connection; some of this material may be material discarded from the Plantation Place fort. This chapter also offers a detailed discussion of the bridge and bridgehead area, and of the site’s relationship to the Thames’ changing river levels.
Chapter 12 by Damien Goodburn explores waterfront woodworking, from felling procedures to the cutting of joints, giving insights into Roman timber supply and carpentry practices throughout the Roman period.
The last but very substantial section contains the specialist appendices, presenting catalogues and discussions of the worked stone, CBM, pottery (notably the samian assemblage with its unusually high proportion of Les-Martres-de-Veyre vessels, interpreted as damaged stock from a nearby warehouse), glass (vessels and production evidence), 1890 accessioned finds (by period and in functional categories), a detailed discussion of the complete lead pigs, coins, plant remains, animal and human bones, as well as the dendrochronological dating evidence. Financial constraints prevented the analysis of fish bones, oyster shells and insect remains.
Roman finds from rivers are difficult to interpret, with the exact context almost always unknown, and with only the most ‘significant’ finds published. This volume offers a rare example of a fully integrated discussion of all the material found next to the Thames (objects, plants and bones), providing fascinating insights into specific episodes of the dumping of domestic, trade and craft waste (e.g. a moulded stone possibly abandoned because of the Boudiccan revolt, discrete tips of oyster shells and cattle horncores, a large quantity of hemp seeds wrapped in a leather sheet). Of special interest are the human remains, which include an articulated arm and which are interpreted as the remains of Boudicca’s victims, mixed in with destruction debris containing a range of artefacts from elsewhere in Londinium and dumped into quay structures or to raise the site level. It remains difficult or impossible to determine whether some material may have been deliberately deposited but this detailed account allows for the examination of context in a way that is not normally possible for finds made in and near rivers. For example, a complete lead open lamp comes from a group of pits that also produced an unusually high number of complete ceramic vessels, perhaps hinting at structured deposition.
This book is an invaluable update on previous foundational publications on the London river front (e.g. Brigham 1990, The late Roman waterfront in London, Britannia 21, 99–183; Milne 1985, The port of Roman London; Miller et al. 1986, The Roman quay at St Magnus House).
Brigham and Watson are to be congratulated for producing an outstanding volume on a hugely important site, providing new insights into the development and history of Roman London.
