<p>The discovery of one of Roman Londons most significant buildings - its amphitheatre - underneath the medieval Guildhall resulted from major archaeological excavations which took place between 1985 and 1999 as part of the City of London Corporations ambitious programme of redevelopment at the Guildhall. The history of the Guildhall and its precinct from the 12th to the 20th centuries is the subject of a companion volume. This book describes the construction, development and disuse of the amphitheatre, from the 1st to 4th centuries AD. Constructed on relatively low ground in the north-west part of Londinium, the first amphitheatre was built in c AD 74 of timber. Evidence was recovered for the eastern entrance, arena palisade, bank for seating and associated drains. The amphitheatre was rebuilt shortly after AD 120, with masonry foundations and walls, associated with new timber stands. The evidence allows conjectural reconstruction and comparison with other British amphitheatres. Abandoned by the mid 4th century, the amphitheatre was largely demolished and sealed by dark earth. The arena may have survived as an oval depression until the area was reoccupied in the 11th century. Significant finds assemblages include an early 2nd-century dump of glass cullet, lead curses from the arena surface and samian pottery with gladiatorial motifs. The amphitheatres remains are preserved and displayed in the basement of the new Guildhall Art Gallery.</p>

London's Roman Amphitheatre: Excavations at the Guildhall (MoLA Monograph)

History

Bateman, Nick

Wroe-Brown, Robin

Cowan, Carrie

Ancient Civilizations

MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology)

<p>St Marylebone parish grew from humble beginnings on the city's margins to become, in the 18th and 19th centuries, one of the wealthiest in London, home to the elite and fashionable. The small parish church on Marylebone High Street, built in brick in 1742 on the site of the medieval church, was inadequate for such a congregation and was superceded in 1817 by today's far grander edifice on Marylebone Road. Archaeological investigations in 1992 showed that the graveyard - levelled in the 1930s for a playground for St Marylebone Church of England School for Girls - lay substantially undisturbed beneath the playground. In 2004 plans to build an underground sports hall allowed excavation of a sample of the burial ground and part of the church itself. Most of the 350+ burials recorded were from the graveyard; some were in family vaults and others inside the church crypt. The archaeological results and detailed osteological analysis of 301 individuals are combined with documentary research into the parish and its population, including the woman who preferred parrots to men, the artist who died of lockjaw and the Reverend headmaster and his 'most wicked and abandoned wife'. This volume is one of the largest and most comprehensive studies of a post-medieval London cemetery.</p>

St Marylebone Church and Burial Ground in the 18th to 19th Centuries: Excavations at St Marylebone School 1992 and 2004-6 (MoLA Monograph)

Walker, Don

Powers, Natasha

Miles, Adrian

Europe

Excavations near the Roman forum on Londinium’s eastern hill (modern Cornhill) have revealed archaeological evidence from the earliest period of London’s history. There was intensive domestic occupation on the site from c. AD 50–5, which was interrupted by the Boudican fire of AD 60/61. The north-east corner of a temporary fort of c. AD 63–85 was found immediately to the east, at Plantation Place, and reconstruction of the plan of this fort indicates that 20 Fenchurch Streetsite would have lain within it. Scant evidence for this was recovered but finds include lorica segmentata armour fittings and a possible spear butt. Possibly fort-related features include clay-and-timber buildings, a large timber-lined water tank and a metalworking workshop. After the fort was demolished, the later 1st-century AD occupation of the site was again domestic in character, with a succession of short-lived clay-and-timber buildings constructed across the area.During the 2nd century AD the pattern of activity changed, with longer lasting masonry buildings replacing the clay-and-timber constructions. The final Roman structure on the site was a 3rd-century masonry cellar.The finds recovered have a heavily domestic bias, with household and personal items, including a large group of dress accessories. A comprehensive collection of pottery, with a wealth of early Roman material, includes mid 1st-century AD wares.

Roman Occupation South-East of the Forum: Excavations at 20 Fenchurch Street, City of London, 2008–9

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