Ancient Roman Landmark Found Under London Office Building

Yahoo

24-02-2025

London's origins as a city date back to the days of the Roman Empire, after the invaders arrived to Great Britain and established the town of Londinium. Nearly two millennia later, remnants of the Romans' presence are still being found in the U.K. capital.
Developers were preparing to demolish an office building from the 1930s in the heart of London when archaeologists at the site unearthed parts of the city's first Roman basilica in the basement of the building. It was built around 80 C.E., nearly four decades after the Romans invaded Great Britain, and functioned as a forum and town hall for the ancient city of Londinium where officials often made major political, judicial, and commercial decisions.
"There could be political discussions happening. It could have been business transactions and big business deals," Andrew Henderson-Schwartz, communications head for Museum of London Archaeology, which led the excavation, told NBC News. "Essentially, it's like shooting forward 2,000 years in time and finding the speaker chair to the House of Commons."The discovery was made near London Bridge and the Tower of London, placing the ancient multipurpose government building smack dab in the middle of Londinium. "It really is the heart of Roman London, where the big decisions that were made impacted the rest of London and also the wider Roman world in Britain," Henderson-Schwartz said. "We knew that this was potentially the site of the first Roman basilica, but what we didn't know was how well these remains had survived."Luckily, if you're interested in experiencing the ancient building for yourself, you don't have to wait until the pieces are installed behind glass in a museum. The MOLA team is now working with architectural firm Woods Bagot to fully excavate the Roman treasured and incorporate them into new office building plans.
"It's part of a new plan to celebrate these amazing discoveries and put them on public display," Historic England archaeology adviser Helen Hawkins said. Henderson-Schwartz added that guests will be able to travel back in time themselves in the future. "They will really experience what it was like to stand on the stage of Roman London,' he said.In the meantime, you can check out the British Museum for extensive collections pertaining to Roman London.