B A R B I C A N L I F E
Because the river banks sloped
wooden box revetments packed with soil were constructed to provide level waterfront platforms on which to build the first houses. Houses seem to have been assembled quickly to provide accommodation for new arrivals at the settlement. During an excavation in the Walbrook valley in 1994/6 evidence was found of a drain of AD47 only 4 years after the Roman invasion of Britain. By AD 55-60 there were already rectangular wooden shacks on the east bank. Excavations have uncovered thick
oak planks or baseplates with mortice holes cut into them to support upright wooden posts. Between these were erected vertical walls consisting of timber planks, wattle or earth. The walls were about 2m high and the buildings seemed to be of about 1½ storeys, perhaps having loft accommodation under a shingle roof. The buildings fronted onto alleyways. Adjacent timber buildings were sometimes of different constructions suggesting that individuals employed their own builders, not one builder for a street. One rare find has been a Roman oak panelled door with moulded frame.
In AD60 Londinium was sacked by
Boudicca but the buildings on the east bank of the river seem to have survived, perhaps because they were too waterlogged to burn. The Walbrook valley excavations of
complex which appears to have included a watermill. Although the building itself was probably outside the area of the most recent excavation huge timber piles have been uncovered which had been driven through earlier small buildings. These piles supported a massive concrete floor and a building which was possibly two or three storeys high. The discovery of cogs, pulleys and lantern gear offers further evidence that it may have been a mill. The machinery would have controlled the direction in which the mill mechanism moved, shifting it from a horizontal motion to vertical turning. The 1994 excavation found over 1000 fragments of quernstones in nearby Queen Victoria Street and during excavations in the 1860s, prior to building the magistrates’
Roman oak fencing Photo © MOLA
Foundation beams from a Roman building Photo © MOLA
1994/6, further to the west, uncovered houses and shops showing evidence of fire damage, presumably the work of Boudicca. These buildings appeared to be around a crossroads and finds suggested that they included a general store, bakery, carpenter, jeweller and textile mill. Over time the character of the
buildings along the river bank changed. Where there were once houses a circular domed structure with wattle walls lined with clay and brick has been found – perhaps a bread oven? – and also an animal pen. During the 2nd century the whole area seems to have been redeveloped to create an industrial
court, huge quantities of burnt grain where found. Together these finds offer strong evidence for a mill. Presumably the grain was shipped up the Walbrook and processed into flour to feed the growing population of Londinium. In the120s AD there was a great
Roman fire of London which laid waste to the area destroying the mill and the industrial complex. By the end of the 2nd century the former industrial area was being redeveloped as a desirable place to live. Evidence has been found of spacious houses with stone extensions, mosaic or flagstone floors, and porticos. At least one house had a bath block and
Amber gladiator amulet. Photo © MOLA
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