B A R B I C A N L I F E
When the Walbrook River powered a watermill
Gillian Laidlaw has been following the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) recently completed excavations at the Bloomberg Place site off Walbrook which was a major project which uncovered some fascinating insights into Roman Londinium.
B
efore any groundwork begins for new buildings archaeologists must be given access to the site to record any evidence of
previous use. In the City of London this must be a never ending task as our skyline is permanently occupied by cranes. Often finds are few because pile driving and deep basements have destroyed any remaining evidence. However over the last 150 years or
so what was once the valley of the Walbrook River has proved to be an especially important area for finds from Roman Londinium. The settlement was founded on two hills between which ran the water channel of the Walbrook River, one of the major streams flowing through a deep valley into the Thames. Quick draining gravels lie over sticky London clay subsoil which means that the ground has remained waterlogged for centuries. Wet is the perfect environment in which to preserve organic matter like wood, leather and textiles. Nothing would survive twenty metres to east or west of the river because the soil drains too quickly. A dig, undertaken by Museum of
London Archaeology (MOLA) has recently been completed at the site of the new Bloomberg Place bounded by Cannon Street, Walbrook and Queen Victoria Street which will help to rewrite the history of London. Finds including the substantial remains of a bridge, timber buildings and 10,000 smaller objects have been made 12 metres below the current ground level, the deepest such deposits known in London. These excavations resulted in Londinium being called “the Pompeii of the north” in media reports. “The Herculaneum of the
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north” would be a more appropriate description. The waterlogged Walbrook preserved organic objects in a similar manner to the pyroclastic cloud, which engulfed Herculaneum, allowed charred organic objects to retain their original shape. Before these excavations the most
famous find in the Walbrook valley was the Temple of Mithras in 1954. As work was drawing to a close a large stone building with an altar was discovered which was clearly a religious building. On the final day before the archaeologists were due to leave the site a head of the god Mithras was found. Mithraism was a secret first century AD male cult, an early competitor to Christianity. The plan had been to demolish the remains of the building but the ensuing public outcry, together with questions being asked in parliament, finally persuaded the developers to pay to remove the temple and re- erect it at ground level for all to see. Unfortunately the reconstruction
was considered to be historically inaccurate. As part of the work currently taking place in the Walbrook valley the temple was dismantled in 2011 and will be re- erected closer to its original location on what was the east bank of the Walbrook. In the meantime the story of the temple and many of the finds are on view at the Museum of London. Although the Walbrook divided
the settlement its deep valley was crossed by a substantial timber bridge offering an uninterrupted east/west passage. At high tide the Thames flowed up into the Walbrook so that goods could be loaded or unloaded in the heart of the settlement. Well preserved building structures have been found in the waterlogged layers both north and south of the bridge.
Even 2nd century metal horse shoes have been found which are assumed to have become stuck in cart ruts and come off as horses were led over the bridge. In this period horse shoes were strapped rather than nailed to the horses’ feet.
Bloomberg Place looking southeast showing the extent of the dig and the numbers of people taking part. Photo © MOLA
The head of the god Mithras from the original excavation Photo © MOLA
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