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The Forum of Roman London: Excavations of 1968–9

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2011

B. J. Philp
B. J. Philp
Affiliation:
Kent Archaeological Rescue Centre, Dover Castle, Kent.
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Summary

An initial, superficial occupation (Period I, c. A.D. 43) of the site probably reflects a Roman military base of the Conquest period. The first formal layout (Period II, c. 44–50) included a main east-west street, north of which lay a metalled area and two wooden structures separated by a north-south road, again almost certainly part of a military base. A large scale Claudian redevelopment (Period III, c. 50–60) relaid both the east-west road and the metalled area. In the angle formed by these lay at least three large timber-framed buildings, on an east-west axis and probably consisting of ranges of rooms, at least one frontal verandah and two semi-basements; two of these buildings were divided from the third by a minor east-west road. The framed walls were infilled with wattle, daub or brick, over wooden sleeper-plates supported on trenched piles. The floors were of clay, some roofs tiled and many walls painted, one four times. Water was piped along the principal road. The layout, still reminiscent of military work, probably reflects the initiation of the civilian town east of the Walbrook which set the permanent street-pattern for the eastern half of the city. All the buildings on the site were destroyed by the Boudiccan fire of A.D. 60.

Type
Articles
Information
Britannia , Volume 8 , November 1977 , pp. 1 - 64
Copyright
Copyright © B. J. Philp 1977. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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References

1 Abbreviations used in the text: finds are referred to by their appended specialist-report numbers as Coins (Coin Nos.), samian (Sam. Nos.), coarse pottery (CP Nos.), and small finds (SF Nos.) to encompass both those illustrated and not. Sections and layers are referred to as S and L respectively. F indicates a feature on the plan and ER indicates the museum excavationregister number.

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