ROMAN REMAINS

Under the Romans, Londinium became one of the principal cities in the western Empire. The settlement's name was almost certainly an adaptation of an older Celtic one. This may have meant city by the lake. The lake would have a winter time one that would have occurred over the north of the South Bank. The attraction of London's site to Romans was that it was located on land that was close to a ford that did not flood.

Boudicca

At the western end of the undercroft of All Hallows by The Tower can be seen a layer of ashes. These are the remains of Roman London after the city was burned down by Boudicca in A.D. 61.

Location: All Hallows by The Tower, Byward Street, EC3R 5BJ (orange, pink)

Elevation

The land in the City of London is approximately 35ft. higher than it was in the time of the Romans. (Medieval Londoners must have been very messy.)

The Guildhall Amphitheatre

In 1988 some Roman walls were unearthed during excavations that were being undertaken prior to the construction of the new Guildhall Art Gallery. These had been part of an amphitheatre, the only one to have been found in London.

Location: The Guildhall Art Gallery, Basinghall Street, EC2V 5AE (purple, turquoise)

See Also: ENTERTAINMENT, DISAPPEARED

Website: www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do//attractions-museums-entertainment/guildhall-galleries/londons-roman-amphitheatre

The Leadenhall Basilica

The modern Leadenhall Market stands above what was an eight-acre basilica complex, from which London was governed. The settlement's centre lay immediately to the west of the Market.

Location: Leadenhall Market, EC3V 1LT (red, blue)

Roman Roads

See Also: ROADS

Ermine Street

Ermine Street was the Roman road that formed the basis of Oxford Street and the Bayswater Road. It helped give the West End an east-west axis and determined the northern edge of what was to become Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.

Location: Bayswater Road, W2 2BE (orange, purple)

Oxford Street, W1C 1JG (orange, purple)

Stane Street

The Roman road Stane Street linked Chichester to London. As the road approached London, it ran along the course of present-day Kennington Park Road and Newington Causeway.

Location: Kennington Park Road, SE11 4JJ

Newington Causeway, SE1 6BA

The Temple of Mithras

In the 3^rdC a temple to Mithras was built on the banks of the Walbrook. In the early 4^thC the building was rededicated to the Roman deity Bacchus, whose diverse, divine portfolio was centred upon wine.

In the 1950s an excavation of the Walbrook site was conducted by a Museum of London team that was led by William Grimes, the institution's director. In 1962 the Temple remains were moved and re-erected at Temple Court on Queen Victoria Street. However, the reconstruction was upon the wrong alignment. In 2006 it was reported that the Temple was going to be disassembled and returned to its original site.

In 2017 the Norman Foster-designed Bloomberg U.K. headquarters opened. Its central circular vestibule was called the Vortex and was meant to parallel the eye of a hurricane. The building stood above the Mithraeum, a space in which members of the public could look at the remains of the Temple of Mithras.

Location: 12 Walbrook, EC4N 8AA (blue, grey)

See Also: BELIEF GROUPS & CULTS

Website: www.londonmithraeum.com/temple-of-mithras

Tower Hill

In 1995 it was announced that the remains of a Roman building had been discovered on Tower Hill. This dated from the 380s and measured 50 metres by 100. Archaeologists believed that it might have been London's first cathedral. If so, then it would probably have been built by Magnus Maximus (d.388). He ruled the western Roman world from Britain.

Location: Tower Hill, EC3N 4EE (purple, turquoise)

See Also: ST PAUL's CATHEDRAL

David Backhouse 2024