There are quite a few surviving bits of Roman London, and more are being discovered as the apparently endless desire to build newer shinier office blocks leads to more excavations.  The biggest current example is that the new Bloomberg headquarters is being built over the site of the Roman Temple of Mithras, and it’s expected that public access will resume some time this year.  There’s an interesting video about it on YouTube, The London Mithraeum: A Future for the Past.

We walked round some of the sites recently, following a trail published by the City of London Archaeological Trust (https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/visit-the-city/walks/Documents/roads-to-rome_final-accessible.pdf), and this got me thinking about the roads that linked up the sites and how they fitted in with the major roads heading out of London, such as Watling Street and Ermine Street.

The traveller from south of the Thames had two choices to get across the river under his or her own steam.  There was a ford at Westminster, which took some traffic up towards Park Lane and Marble Arch and points west and north from there.  But if you wanted to pass through the heart of Londinium, you came across the first London Bridge, built out of wood at some point between 50 and 100CE.  This was probably 100 yards or so east of the current bridge, and the traveller’s path would now pass through the courtyard of the church of St Magnus the Martyr, on Lower Thames Street.  There is a plaque which commemorates, with more certainty, that this was the route to the bridge from the medieval period to the early 19^th century.  More atmospherically, there is a large piece of wood, held to a pillar by a metal strap, which dates back to 75CE and comes from the wharf which the Romans built.  It was found the other side of Lower Thames Street, in Fish St Hill, which was the way into the heart of Londinium.  Since the 17^th century, it’s been better known as the location of the Monument, which commemorates the Great Fire of 1666, which started very nearby.

 

Having climbed up Fish Street Hill, our traveller would head up the line of Gracechurch Street.  Where that meets Lombard Street was the entrance to the Roman forum, a public building and open area where people bought and sold goods, took refreshment, and discussed affairs of state.  The route today is actually not one of the City’s more distinguished thoroughfares: you pass post-War office blocks, shops, and eateries.  The modern emporium of Leadenhall Market is roughly on the site of the forum.  As you continue north along Gracechurch St, however, you get glimpses of the iconic buildings of today – the Lloyds building, the “Gherkin” and the “Cheesegrater” – off to the right, and up ahead is what’s now Tower 42, but to my generation was the Nat West Tower, and for decades the tallest building in London.

Where Gracechurch Street meets Wormwood Street used to stand the Bishop’s Gate, which gave its name to the street heading north, which is the start of the great Roman road, Ermine Street.  That’s definitely one for another blog.