Outside Roman London

This book describes the archaeological evidence from excavations at Crossrail's Broadgate ticket hall at Liverpool Street, from the Late Iron Age to the late Roman marsh formation. The site lay 120m north of the town defences in a landscape dominated by a former tributary of the Walbrook stream, which ran along the west edge of the site. The earliest Roman activity focused on draining the site sufficiently to allow burial and road building in the area. Extensive remains of an early 2nd- to 3rd-century AD west–east metalled road with two main phases were traced across the site, along with several phases of roadside ditches. The road ran west from Ermine Street, and evidence for horse transport and pasture suggests that it may have led to the fort in the north-west corner of Londinium. To the south of the road, seven 2nd-century AD inhumation burials, including three decapitations, and one cremation burial formed part of a burial ground in this waterlogged area. Following on earlier such finds, the large assemblage of accompanying disarticulated human bone remains one of the most intriguing aspects of the Walbrook valley.