Main periods of use on the site

Prehistoric

Natural geology consisted of truncated pre-Roman brickearth subsoil overlying brickearth and Thames river terrace gravels. The original land surface sloped slightly from the north-west towards the south-east. In the south-west corner of site was a prehistoric palaeochannel which had gradually transformed into a marsh as it silted up. The resulting wet hollow persisted until the 1st century AD. Around this feature the brickearth subsoil and the underlying hollows contained flint flakes and sherds of pottery dated to c 3400-2500 BC. This is the first time that this type of Neolithic pottery has been discovered in the City of London.

Early Roman

Initial Roman activity consisted of stripping topsoil, quarrying brickearth and gravel, and the burial of two children and a partly disarticulated adult in the north-west corner of site. There was little evidence of actual settlement. A large oval shaped pond or soakaway in the centre of the site may have originated as a gravel quarry. This contained water-logged sediments indicative of standing water, and it had been backfilled with masses of pottery including complete amphorae by c AD 70. Finds from this 'pond' included the life-sized left hand and forearm of a gilded, cast bronze statue, presumably part of some civic or public statue which had been hacked apart and unceremoniously dumped. Read more about the discovery of the Roman statue's arm.

It appears that roads here were only laid out as part of the Roman reconstruction after Boudica's revolt of AD 60/1, and buildings were then constructed beside them. Excavation has confirmed that one previously conjectured length of road does not exist, though the existence of all the other Roman roads shown on the adjacent plan has been confirmed. Since many of the roads lasted for some time there were minor changes to alignment and dimension within the Roman period.

The area of the former pond or soakaway was reclaimed as building plots. Within the makeup for the early metalling of the central road the partial remains of three horses were buried (see image). Fragments of at least two late-1st or early-2nd century houses with stone foundations (and possibly timber framed superstructures) were excavated (at A on plan). The larger house contained at least nine rooms, with opus signinum and cement floors. One room possessed a large mosaic, which had been removed in antiquity, apart from fragments of its plain border.

Excavations along the eastern side of 20-30 Gresham Street (at B on plan) revealed a rectangular opus signinum pier base, the upper portion of which was surrounded with edge-laid sheets of Purbeck Marble. It is probable that this feature formed part of colonnade around the two walls found further east during the 1959-60 redevelopment. These foundations possibly formed part of an early Roman civic building, possibly a temple. Dating evidence now suggests that this building was constructed between c AD 70-100.

Large areas of the site (at C on plan) were not built on during the early Roman period, but were used to dump soil, and rubbish. Possibly this land use was dictated by the generally low-lying and potentially wet local terrain. Finds from these areas included iron smithing and glass working debris.

A number of large slabs of painted wall plaster were found in this area, the dumping of the wall plaster being dated by associated pottery to AD 120-160. These fragments depict portions of one or possibly two scenes. The first scene depicts two half-size figures ? Bacchus and a female figure, possibly Venus or a maenad, plus fragments of a second female figure and swags of foliage and fruit. The second scene consists of a series of panels defined by fluted columns, including a team of horses and sea horses. The range of colours and style of the work confirm that it was high quality figurative art, presumably derived from the walls of some nearby building. Read more about the discovery of the painted wall plaster.

The early Roman wells and bucket chains

Second century well structure. © Tony Taylor

Finds in the cask

Excavation of the well

Roman water-lifting wheel driven by capstan. © Dr Bob Spain.

Much of the southern area of the site had been truncated to a low level by modern basements, and as a consequence only isolated cut features survived in these parts. The largest cuts contained two massive plank-lined Roman wells and a third shallower tank or cistern (at D on plan). The wells were made entirely of oak, which had been preserved by waterlogging, and were between 2.5-3.5m square and 4-5m in depth. The construction of the earliest well has been dated by dendrochronology to AD 63, which corresponds with the construction date of the timber quays found near the Roman bridgehead. The central posts of the well were braced internally with at least three sets of cross-braces. Set in a cut into the London Clay in the base of the well was a well-preserved softwood half cask, bound with hardwood hoops, which may have functioned as a silt trap. The cask was made out of alpine softwood; probably larch or silver fir, with the binding hoops possibly made of hazel (see illust.). The well was relatively short-lived and was abandoned around AD 71 following a major collapse of the upper section of its lining. The provisional dating of a number of the upper disuse fills in the well suggests that the structure was gradually backfilled in the period between AD 70-100.

The most significant finds from the well were recovered from its lower levels, most notably from the cask at its base, which contained a number of parts of a wood and iron bucket chain. These included parts of twelve hollowed out rectangular water boxes, a number of associated iron rivets or linking pins, and a wooden roller from a possible lantern gear mechanism.

The water boxes measured 390x52x105-125mm and had been very carefully made from hollowed out rectangular blocks of radially cleft oak, with each of the containers covered by a board lid, which was nailed over the water chamber. Each end of the boxes had two slots, which originally housed a pair of iron link plates, held in place by an iron rivet, to join the buckets together in a continuous loop or chain. The chambers could hold about two litres of water, which entered and exited the boxes via a small rectangular slot cut into the upper side of each of the boxes. The presence of water slots on opposite faces of at least two of the wooden containers suggests that two-bucket chains were operating in the well. To preserve the boxes and make them watertight they were painted with pine resin. How this machine functioned is uncertain, as the remains of both the drive mechanism and the superstructure were absent. It is possible that the horizontal drive shaft supported two small drive wheels powered by a large tread wheel.

The larger of the two wells has been provisionally dated to the early-2nd century, and contained several large semi-articulated parts of a second bucket chain (of a very different and possibly unique design). The mechanism was made largely of wrought iron, forming a heavy double chain with boarded oak buckets alternating between pairs of cranked iron links. All of the water containers and several sections of the ironwork had been heavily burnt, indicating that the overlying well house had been destroyed by fire. However, enough fragments survived to reconstruct how the buckets originally articulated with the iron chain. The straight links of the chain were nailed onto and recessed into the outer sides of the water boxes and were joined at each end to the intermediate cranked links by a large pin, held in place by a split ring.

This system of linked elements meant that the bucket chain could easily be shortened or lengthened dependant on the relative water level in the well. Unlike the side discharge system used in the water boxes from the adjoining well, the containers were open at the top with the cranked links located in the open mouth of the containers. Each of an estimated twenty or so containers would have held in the region of six litres of water, or three times the amount of one of the smaller water boxes from the bucket chain from the earlier well

Elements of the water-lifting mechanism
Wooden box. © Tony Taylor	Iron link chain. © Tony Taylor	Box and chain assembly. © Tony Taylor

Samples of the three main elements of the metalwork (cranked link, straight link and connecting pin) have been subject to analysis by English Heritage, which has demonstrated that all were wrought iron produced by the bloomery (direct) process. Interestingly, all the iron showed signs of having been quenched in water, although this hardening is considered to have been unintentional and not to have been part of the original manufacturing process. Much of the bucket chain was heavily distorted and had clearly been affected by intense heat, causing the individual sections to buckle and bend. It is clear that this damage was caused in the fire which destroyed the well house and that the ironwork must have been red hot to have been affected in this way. The quenching of the uppermost section of the hot bucket chain was clearly caused when the remains collapsed into the well waters, once the supporting timber superstructure had burnt away.

Also found with the remains of the bucket chain at the bottom of the well, was a rare example of a complete copper alloy cauldron. The bulk of the finds comprised large amounts of domestic refuse, including pottery dated AD 150-200, and large quantities of ceramic building material. The building material included a number of complete roller stamped box flue tiles and tegulae roofing tiles, three of which had the official stamp of the Roman Procurator on them (PPBRLON). Finds from the upper portion of the backfill of this feature included a green jasper intaglio depicting the sun god Sol.

Later Roman

Evidence for late Roman activity is relatively scarce, perhaps mostly due to later truncation. Isolated pits and external soil dumps are of late Roman date. A small 2m square stone lined subterranean room with a complex series of plastered brickearth shelves or alcoves at its western end is provisionally interpreted as a shrine room, presumably attached to a temple. Finds from this feature included 21 coins, ranging in date from issues of Claudius II (268-270) to Constantine the Great (306-337). The presence of pottery dating to AD 350-400 confirming there was at least some human activity here until the end of the Roman period and the abandonment of Londinium in c AD 400-450.

Saxo-Norman

Following the reoccupation of the Roman city in c AD 900 and the establishment of the present network of streets, the Milk Street area was resettled by c AD 900-1000. Evidence of this reoccupation is provided by the discovery of numerous Saxo-Norman cess and rubbish pits, many of which were wattle-lined. The fills of many of the deeper pits were waterlogged and there was good organic preservation of a wide range of artefacts and food waste. Finds included a bronze bodkin, a group of unused hone stones, wooden objects, leather soles, and food waste which varied from fruit stones, nuts and acorns, fish bones to cattle skulls. One plank-lined well is provisionally dated to this period. Saxo-Norman buildings consisted of several timber sunken floored structures, one (under Mumford Court) showing evidence of stave-built walls. The widespread distribution of pits (including many examples close to the contemporary street frontage) suggests that the site was not densely occupied during this period.

Medieval

There were various short lengths of truncated mortared chalk rubble cellar foundations of 12th to 16th century date along all the street frontages, some of these walls being founded on dense clusters of timber piles. Mumford Court originated during the medieval period as an alleyway aligned at right angles to Milk Street. Behind the densely built-up medieval street frontage were gardens or back yards containing stone-lined cesspits and wells.

There were a number of barrel-lined soakaways or wells, one containing seven 12th-century London Ware baluster jugs and another containing several 13th-century Surrey White Ware baluster jugs, glazed floor tiles, an axe head, knife handles, wooden bowls and spoons. The 1956 watching brief at 3-4 Trump Street revealed a chalk lined well, which was backfilled in c 1500. Finds from the well included 78 buckle strap ends and many incomplete examples, suggesting the existence of a workshop nearby.

Along the Milk Street frontage a 13th-century subterranean Jewish ritual bath or mikveh was discovered (at M on the plan). It consisted of seven stone steps leading down into a small apsidal bath, lined with high quality Greensand ashlar. Crudely built stone blocking later covered its lower steps. The function of this blocking is uncertain though it may have been a deliberate modification to reduce the volume of the bath during its working life. Alternatively this blocking may have been part of the foundations of a later cellar, which was built over the mikveh after it was abandoned following the expulsion of the Jewish community in 1290. Until 1290 this property was occupied by a Jew, Moses Crespin, who had inherited it from his father Jacob. The Crespins were leading London financiers. After the expulsion the property passed to one Martin Ferruant.

The Milk Street mikveh and the one discovered nearby at 81-87 Gresham Street in 1986 are the only medieval examples of this type of feature known in England. Read more about the mikveh.

Post-Medieval

On the Ogilby and Morgan map of 1676 Mumford Court is shown as one of several alleyways giving access to the dense network properties situated within the interior of the site; and on Rocque?s map of 1747 it is shown as 'Mumphord Court?. Along Mumford Court the remains of various 19th and early 20th century buildings showed how it had been successively widened, and along the centre of the alleyway was a 19th-century brick-built culverted sewer. Elsewhere, evidence for post-medieval activity was generally rather limited. Along the Lawrence Lane frontage was a brick-built, rectangular barrel vaulted icehouse (N on plan) and a brick culvert both of 17th-century date. A number of the medieval wells were partly relined in brick. One well was backfilled with debris from the Great Fire of 1666, while another well along the Milk Street frontage, which was backfilled during the 18th century, contained numerous glass bottles.