MoLAS 2004: annual review

Peats and sands in the Wantsum Channel (© MoLAS)

Finely bedded shoreline deposits at the edge of the channel (© MoLAS)

Logging the Ravensbourne Gravel deposits (© MoLAS)

82–96 Old Kent Road, Southwark (OKO 04)

Features cut into natural (© MoLAS)

Clients: CgMs Consulting for Mount Anvil

Author: Derek Seeley

Site supervisor: Paul Thrale

MoLAS was commissioned to carry out an evaluation at 82–96 Old Kent Road during the final stages of demolition. Originally seven evaluation trenches were to be investigated across the site, which was projected to lie to the south of Roman Watling Street, beyond the known Roman settlement area but in the vicinity of a previously recorded Roman burial. The northernmost trench closest to the Roman road revealed a linear cut feature interpreted as a ditch, potentially the roadside ditch, a number of Roman pits were investigated across the central part of the site and the southern area revealed agricultural soils with a few sherds of Roman and medieval pottery.

The Senior Archaeology Officer at Southwark Council, after visiting the site, asked for two of the trenches to be extended in order that the entire surviving length of the ditch, that was located between two deep basements, be fully excavated, and for the full extent of a group of pits located to the south to be revealed. As a result of the extension, a cremation burial and an entire robbed-out Roman masonry building were found. The building was rectangular, measured 6.4 by 5m externally, and had 0.8m-wide foundations which survived to a depth of 0.6m, although no floor surfaces survived. Centrally located on the inside face of the one wall was a projection which may have formed part of an internal structure or support, possibly a hearth or chimney.

The function of the building is not clear at this stage. It could, considering the presence of the nearby cremation, represent a funerary structure (a mausoleum?), but it could also be interpreted as a domestic dwelling or even an agricultural building. Further analysis of the evidence from the site and comparisons with other roadside structures might identify the function.

Because of the very tight programme for the completion of demolition and archaeological investigation prior to piling, MoLAS provided continuity of working and additional resources at short notice to ensure the archaeological investigations were completed on time. As a result, the client was able to stay on programme for the redevelopment.

Milton and Kemsley Distributor Road, near Sittingbourne (KT-MIL03)

Excavation of a Bronze Age pot (© MoLAS)

Clients: Kemsley Fields Ltd

Author: Robin Nielsen

Site supervisors: David Jameson and Elaine Eastbury

Excavations and watching briefs were carried out on behalf of Kemsley Field Ltd on sections of a new distributor road, lying to the north of Ridham Avenue, Kemsley, following an evaluation in early 2003 which indicated the presence of a large number of cut features. While many of these proved to be naturally formed when examined in detail, cut features of, possibly, Neolithic to medieval date were also found during the excavations, which exposed about 1.5 hectares of the site in total.

The majority of the pits, ditches and postholes appear to be Late Bronze Age in date (c 1000–700 BC). Over 2250 sherds of flint- and sand-tempered pottery from this period were recovered from the fills of the features, including nearly complete vessels which appeared at first to be cremation burials in pots. These were buried in or alongside a ditch running north–south across the site. When investigated more closely by Museum of London Specialist Services at Eagle Wharf Road, cremated bone was not found, but the soil within the pots was found to be rich in preserved seeds and pulses. Both these and the containing pots are likely to have been deliberately buried, ‘placed’ deposits. The cut features are evidence of what appears to be a major extensive occupation site of the period (other elements having been found during housing development to the south of Ridham Avenue). Late Iron Age to Roman features were also identifiable, including a holloway (sunken road) apparently still in use in the medieval period, for which there was further evidence from other cut features. The archaeological remains had survived the intensive quarrying of large parts of the site in the 19th century.

The distributor road forms part of the infrastructure work for the mixed-use redevelopment of a large area of derelict marshland. It was therefore essential that the archaeological excavation be carried out within the construction timetable. The recording of the findings was speeded up by the use of a real-time pen mapping system by MoLAS Geomatics. MoLAS staff also put in a huge effort to carry out the investigations in the worst that last winter could throw at them.

MoLAS will soon (late 2004?) commence excavation of an even larger area of over 6 hectares between the distributor road and Ridham Avenue which is being jointly developed for new housing by Taylor Woodrow Homes and George Wimpey Homes. This should reveal more secrets of this intensively occupied ‘brown field’ site.

Broad Street Place, City of London (BDC03)

Excavating the burials (© MoLAS)

Clients: Corporation of London

Author: Robin Nielsen

Site supervisor: Chiz Harward

After evaluation in 2003, two phases of excavation were carried out at 6 Broad Street Place in 2004 on behalf of the client, the Corporation of London. The first consisted of trenches for thrust blocks and a tower base necessary for the installation of a facade retention system. The excavation for the tower base was combined with that for a tower crane. The second phase was for new pile caps, ground beams and drainage. The areas between these were preserved in situ. Programming and cooperation with the contract managers, Costain, was the key to the success of the project on a very constricted site.

The site is situated in the upper valley of the Walbrook, a tributary of the Thames, and a brickearth-filled palaeochannel, running across the eastern half of the site, was its earliest manifestation. During the later prehistoric period, shallow braiding channels formed. Several sherds of redeposited prehistoric pottery, flint tools and flakes were found.

The channels were infilled in the 1st century AD and replaced by man-made ditches. Roman Londoners may first have been buried here in the later 1st century AD. At this time, disarticulated and semi-articulated human remains ‘ponded’ in a wet area at the east of the site. In the past, human remains in the River Walbrook have been colourfully associated with the victims of the Boudican revolt or ‘Celtic’ head-hunting activity.

An east–west road was laid across the site, probably about AD 120. A wide channel constructed along the northern edge of the site would have drained a wide area, and contained flood deposits, interspersed with sandy beach or foreshore deposits. Human remains were found interspersed with these. A number of horse bones were also recovered, a species that has been associated with cemeteries elsewhere. A series of 2nd-century burials were dug to the south of the channel, through former flood deposits, and several bodies showed signs of being eroded into the channel; in one case, then being reburied by similar material whilst still relatively intact.

The central area of the site had been horizontally truncated in antiquity, possibly removing further burials. However, here a group of three coffined burials did survive, aligned with a gully or drain. The complete corpse of a ram had latterly been disposed of in the gully.

In the late 2nd or early 3rd century AD, rubbish was dumped over the increasingly waterlogged road. The drainage channels finally silted up and a marsh formed across the area, to remain until at least the 16th century. Medieval remains were limited to intrusive artefacts in the marsh deposits. These included a bone ice-skate and a possible sledge runner made from a horse mandible.

The site significantly contributes to our knowledge and understanding of Roman burial practice in the area, and the management and use of the Upper Walbrook valley in the Roman period.

Cannon Place, City of London

Cleaning Roman masonry (© MoLAS)

Clients: Hines UK Ltd

Author: Sophie Jackson

Site supervisor: Jez Taylor

Between March and June 2004, MoLAS undertook a major archaeological investigation for Hines UK Ltd beneath Cannon Street Station. The project involved partial excavation of five large trenches within the Scheduled Ancient Monument known as the ‘Roman governor's palace’. Boreholes were cored in two of the pits and window or windowless samples were taken in each.

The purpose of the investigation was to confirm the nature, extent and significance of Roman deposits and features within areas which may be affected by proposed development of the site. Because of the potential importance of the remains in this area, and their ability to provide answers about the so-called ‘governor's palace’ complex, the areas of investigation were large and some excavation was permitted. The results proved to be very useful. Substantial remnants of Roman masonry, discovered in each of the five pits, provisionally dated from the mid 1st to mid 2nd century AD. Whilst it remains unclear whether all the Roman remains relate to the ‘governor's palace’, it seems particularly likely that structural features found towards the east limit of the site are associated with buildings interpreted by Peter Marsden in the 1970s as the ‘great hall’ and ‘great pool’. As well as providing archaeological information, the site work has also provided the developers and design team with information on those areas that are ‘clear’ of significant archaeological deposits.

Sanderson factory site, Denham, Buckinghamshire (BMS-SSU02)

Excavating the flint scatter (© MoLAS)

Clients: Arlington Development Management Ltd

Author: Dave Lakin

Site supervisor: Craig Halsey

During 2004 excavation took place at the site of the former Sanderson factory in Denham, south Buckinghamshire, in advance of the first phase of a new office development.

The archaeology of this particular part of the Colne valley had been evaluated in 2003 and the results had shown a landscape rich in palaeoenvironmental remains but relatively poor in artefactual remains — despite the proximity of the Late Glacial/Early Mesolithic site at Three Ways Wharf (Uxbridge) excavated by MoLAS's predecessor, the Department of Greater London Archaeology, in 1989. That site had yielded flint assemblages judged to be of national importance, and the possibility that the Sanderson's site might yield similar finds was keenly anticipated. In fact as each area of the site was looked at it seemed that hopes were to be dashed, until at very nearly the last moment when, during excavation of a flood relief channel at the very southern end of the site (in fact, nearest to Three Ways Wharf), a scatter of flint and animal bone came to light.

The flint scatter was situated on an area of relatively high gravel which may have formed the bank of a small island within the braided channel of the Colne. Tools, cores and ‘debitage’ were all present: over 3000 flint and bone fragments were recovered by hand, and recorded in three dimensions, and a similar number recovered from the bulk sieving of the associated soil horizons. The tool types were identical to the Early Mesolithic assemblage from Three Ways Wharf and appear to date to c 9000 BC; the animal bone found derived from, amongst other animals, red deer, beaver, and possibly otter. The scatter was nearly 10m long and 4–5m wide and was arranged around an area of fire-cracked gravel which suggested the presence of a ‘camp-fire’.

Post-excavation analysis of the finds and data from the Sanderson site has now begun, and it is already clear that the combination of the finds assemblage and good palaeoenvironmental data has a real potential to add significantly to the current state of knowledge of the post-glacial development of the Colne valley, and will form a fascinating complement to the Three Ways Wharf discovery. Sandy Kidd, Senior Archaeological Officer at Buckinghamshire County Council, commented: ‘This site adds to our knowledge of this early period just after the end of the last Ice Age. The site has been provisionally dated to around 9000 BC, when the ice sheets had receded but when Britain was still connected to the Continent by the land bridge. Previous finds in the area indicate that the Colne Valley was particularly attractive to hunter-gatherers.’

Work is being supported by the developer, Arlington Development Management Ltd, who have a policy of assisting discoveries of historical importance. Jim Johnston, who heads the Development Services team at Arlington, said: ‘This find is exciting and we are pleased to support the work to discover its historical origins. In doing so, we are helping to build a picture of Uxbridge and its inhabitants thousands of years ago.’

Prittlewell, Essex (ES-PRO03)

Excavating the Prittlewell Coptic bowl (© MoLAS)

Clients: Southend-on-Sea Borough Council

Author: Dave Lakin

Site supervisor: Ian Blair

Between October 2003 and January 2004 MoLAS carried out an archaeological investigation at Prittlewell in south-east Essex. The work was part of a proposed road improvement on the site of a known Anglo-Saxon cemetery. Within a short time we had discovered a burial that was clearly extraordinary. The size of the grave, and the quality and quantity of the objects buried there, left little doubt that this was a rare example of a princely burial of the 7th century AD (see main feature). The fact that the grave was previously undisturbed made it even more significant. It is arguably the most important Anglo-Saxon burial found since the 1939 discovery of the great ship burial at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk.

The Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Prittlewell is located on the northern outskirts of Southend, in south-east Essex. The site is on rising ground to the east of the Prittle Brook, a stream which flows into the Roach estuary c 2.5km to the north. The area is known to have been inhabited since prehistoric times. Because of the potential for archaeological discoveries here, Southend-on-Sea Borough Council asked MoLAS to carry out a preliminary evaluation ahead of a potential road-widening scheme. Three trenches were opened up, the largest of which was c 20 x 7m. Geophysical investigation, comprising both magnetometer and resistivity surveys, was conducted on the remainder of the site.

The burial chamber comprised a rectangular hole dug into the ground whose walls were lined with upright timbers. A plank roof covered the chamber and the whole was sealed under a substantial mound of sandy earth forming a barrow. Over time, sand leaked through the cracks, and at some point the roof timbers decayed and the mound collapsed into the chamber, completely sealing the burial and the grave goods. The high acidity of the sand filling the burial chamber meant that no trace of a body survived but objects in the chamber, such as the sword and the shoe buckles, tell us it was almost certainly that of a man. The estimated size of the largely destroyed mound (10m diameter) puts it at the lower end of the range in scale but the chamber at c 4m square and c 1.5m deep is exceptionally large even by European standards.

Inside the burial chamber, weapons, equipment for feasting and other valued personal possessions were found carefully arranged around the body, with various items still hanging on iron hooks in the timber-revetted walls. The body was laid out on a wooden structure, a bed or coffin, with objects that had been placed on the body as part of the burial ritual. These included two small gold-foil crosses, two gold coins, a gold belt buckle and shoe buckles.

Many of the objects uncovered were so delicate or ephemeral they had to be lifted by conservators in a block with the soil surrounding them, and are still being excavated off-site in the conservation laboratories of the Museum of London.

The objects found in the chamber were made in a number of different countries. Of those examined so far, the most exotic objects appear to be a flagon and bowl from the eastern Mediterranean area. A folding stool is probably from either Italy or the area which is now modern Slovakia/Hungary, while the gold coins were minted in Merovingian France. Two gold-foil crosses in the burial are a unique find for Britain, although well attested in certain areas of the Continent, and suggest connections with Italy which might well be in the context of the historically documented activity of the Roman (ie Augustinian and succeeding) missionaries in early 7th-century south-east England.

By contrast, a gold belt buckle is of Continental style but was probably made in Kent. The decoration of the wooden drinking vessels is Scandinavian in style, although they too were probably made in England. Hanging bowls are generally thought to have been made in Ireland or in northern England, and the glass vessels are English, possibly from Kent.

Several other important objects have only been revealed during the course of 2004 as conservation work progressed. One such is a Byzantine silver spoon on which there is barely decipherable inscription. The iconography and symbolic association of the spoon, which may have been a baptismal gift or used in communion rites, add further support to the evidence that the Prittlewell prince was a Christian. Another is the very faint, but precise, traces of an ancient lyre, the first one ever found in Britain.

For more information see main feature

Selected projects 2004: Buildings

Capability statement: Historic building recording and interpretation

Bromley Hall, Tower Hamlets (BTI02)

Architectural detail at Bromley Hall: a hound chasing a deer; late 15th century (© MoLAS)

Clients: Leaside Regeneration Ltd

Author: Andrew Westman

MoLAS continued to record and analyse Bromley Hall during the early part of 2004 (see also report last year). The greater part of this is a red-brick Queen Anne house, with an elegant doorcase and sash windows, and a broad hipped tiled roof. This structure is itself the result of a remodelling in about 1700 of an older building, the corners of which are marked by narrow solid octagonal turrets. Internally, oak joists and a finely carved doorframe have been tree-ring dated to between 1482 and 1495. The original building was probably built for a rich courtier under Henry VII. MoLAS is analysing and recording the building during its refurbishment by Leaside Regeneration Ltd, and has excavated inside the house so the ground floor can be rebuilt and services relaid. A small cellar, found to extend westwards beyond the house may have belonged to an earlier building. Traces of an external doorway at first-floor level indicate that other buildings formerly adjoined the tower-house, presumably containing service quarters. Moulded and painted timbers reused in later rearrangement of the floors may have come from decorated ceilings. Originally a timber spiral staircase rose partly inside a half-hexagonal stair turret projecting from the centre of the north side of the house. When, in c 1700, this was dismantled and replaced by a staircase in straight flight, the empty turret was sealed up, and remains a void from top to bottom of the house. The earliest documented occupant, in 1509, appears to have been Sir John Blount, the father of Elizabeth Blount, Henry VIII's mistress and mother of his acknowledged illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy, born in 1519.

Bromley Hall was remodelled c 1700 to serve probably as an overseer's house at the centre of a calico-printing works. Described as a ‘gentleman's seat’ at the beginning of the 19th century, by the end it was surrounded by the docks, industry and slum housing of the East End. From 1889 it housed nursing missions, and the Royal College of St Katharine added a ground-floor extension in 1928, in sympathetic brick. Damaged in 1940, when the docks were bombed during the Second World War, the house was repaired in 1951, and attached to a garage and, later, to a carpet warehouse. It is statutorily listed grade II*.

‘Vallambrosa’, Le Vieux Beaumont, Jersey

‘Vallambrosa’ farmhouse (© MoLAS)

Clients: Antler Property C I Ltd

Author: Andrew Westman

‘Vallambrosa’ is the name of a farmhouse in the south-west of Jersey. Built c 1880, this was a replacement for, and effectively hid from view, the original farmhouse, which was a much older building. The latter, only recently noticed and appreciated, was recorded by MoLAS for Antler Homes (Jersey) Ltd, before being converted to modern residences. The three-bay, two-storey, granite-built farmhouse was in traditional form, with its main long front to the south facing down a hill slope. At the east end a ground-floor room housed cows and calves, while above was the farmer's best room, with a fine stone-hooded fireplace in the gable-end wall, and an iron cross-bar in a small window beside it, originally unglazed; hay was pitched up into the roof space above that. Simple mouldings in the granite dressings around the windows and doors in the south front, including accoladed lintels, and other details of form and appearance, reflected French vernacular influence and suggested a date of construction around 1600. The original stairs would probably have been in a tourelle or round turret projecting from the north side, at the end of a cross-passage to the main entrance in the south front. Around 1700 the building was extended to the west and a new front door and internal wooden staircase were provided in the extension, with larger windows, while the stair tourelle was demolished and the former cross-passage made into a stable with a flat lintel over the former front door. Until 1949 the building housed up to five cows and three calves; the farmer recalled as a boy milking the cows at dawn every day before taking them out to pasture, and stalling them inside every evening. A garage was built against the north side, and since then the building had been used to store spare lorry parts and engines, and to house seasonal tomato-pickers.

Jamme Masjid, Fournier Street and Brick Lane, Tower Hamlets

Architect's impression of the new mosque; Tower Hamlets has approved in principle the addition of a minaret at the front of the building (this image is copyright, and appears by courtesy of David Gallagher Associates)

Clients: Trustees of Jamme Masjid Ltd

Author: Andrew Westman

MoLAS assessed the architectural and historic interest of a mosque, listed grade II*, formerly a synagogue and originally a church, in order to assist the mosque trustees, their architect and the local planning authority in considering the effect of possible alterations on the fabric and setting of the building. Constructed as a French Huguenot church in 1743, this red-brick building also contains vaulted cellars, which in other churches would have been used for burials but here were used for commercial storage. A schoolhouse built directly adjoining the church, to the west in Brick Lane, was from the first (and still is) an integral part of the site. The original vestry house, adjoining the church to the south in Fournier Street, no longer belongs to the site. In 1809 the buildings were leased to the London Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews, in 1819 the lease was reassigned to a Methodist congregation, and in 1869 the interior was lavishly refurbished. By the end of the 19th century the buildings were occupied by a Jewish school and the Machzeike Hadass Great Synagogue, when the interior of the former church was slightly altered accordingly and classrooms were added in the roof space. In 1976 the buildings became a mosque, school and community centre for local people of Bengali origin, continuing their function of accommodating the needs of successive groups of immigrants to London.

Selected projects 2004: Geomatics: land survey and mapping

Capability statement: Geomatics and survey

Former Lime Works, Canterbury Road, Faversham, Kent (KT-CAN04)

Top of one of the brick limekilns (© MoLAS)

Clients: Crest Nicholson (South East) Ltd

Author: Kieron Tyler

Site supervisor: Kieron Tyler

MoLAS was commissioned to record a group of standing structures relating to the former use of the site as a chalk quarry. Two large 19th-century lime kilns also survived. The site was located north of Canterbury Road, south-east of Faversham in Swale Borough. The investigation took place in May 2004.

The fieldwork was undertaken by MoLAS in association with Plowman Craven Associates, using a combination of photography and digital survey with a Cyrax 2500 scanner. Use of the Cyrax scanner meant the survey could be conducted in a much shorter time (in this case, a total of 2 days as against 4–6 days per structure using reflectorless EDM), which was of particular importance to the client.

The Cyrax produced a comprehensive three-dimensional scanned survey, with millimetric levels of accuracy, which was then used to produce plots for the detailed analysis of each elevation and/or structural component. The scanning produced a primary record as a ‘point cloud’, a collection of thousands of discrete points representing the surface of the structures, which was subsequently ‘clad’ for use in further visualisations..

The chalk pit is recorded from 1795 although it was mainly developed after 1838. The quarry expanded massively during the second half of the 19th century, and the first limekiln — a linked pair — is known at the site from 1864. The second limekiln was constructed by 1898.

This project represented the first time that a historic lime-working site has been recorded in such a way, as well as the first time that a Cyrax scanner had been used by MoLAS in archaeological fieldwork following a local authority planning condition. The comprehensive and accurate digital survey of the site produced detailed drawings of the structures and their component elements, including isometric reconstruction drawings.

For more information on our association with Plowman Craven and the uses of Cyrax scanning see here

Torre Abbey, Devon (TAC02)

Survey at Torre Abbey (© MoLAS)

Clients: Torbay Council

Author: Chris Thomas

Site supervisor: David Saxby

Works in 2004 at Torre Abbey for Torbay Council were undertaken to provide a mitigation strategy for the main Heritage Lottery funded scheme to renovate the museum there, which is due to commence in summer 2005. The west and south ranges of the Premonstratensian abbey survive, although much altered in the 16th–20th centuries when they were the residence of the Cary family. The church and east range survive only as ruins.

The client and English Heritage identified a number of areas where excavation or demolition might affect areas of the abbey with unknown significance and ‘opening-up’ works have been carried out in all these areas. Parts of the above-ground structure include the east wall of the west range (the abbot's hall and parlour) where the outline of two cloister roofs and a number of windows have been identified, two late 16th-century staircases that possibly led up to a main staircase where the boiler room now lies and parts of the altar to the late 18th-century chapel.

MoLAS Geomatics were employed to carry out a full two-dimensional survey of the abbey and its grounds, both as an aid to the archaeological and survey works, and as a long-term landscape management tool. The survey located the exterior plan of all the buildings plus all the ruins as well as paths, boundary walls and other major features.

Chateau Ganne, France

Remains of Chateau Ganne (© MoLAS)

Clients: Service Départemental d'Archéologie du Calvados

Authors: Joe Severn (MoLAS) and Duncan Lees(Plowman Craven Associates)

During September 2004, MoLAS and Plowman Craven Associates (PCA) undertook the three-dimensional recording of the 11th-century gatehouse at Chateau Ganne, Pommeraye, in the heart of ‘La Suisse Normande’, 35km to the south of Caen, France. This fortification, atypical in Normandy, has parallels in Exeter Castle and the hall of Chepstow Castle. The Service Départemental d'Archéologie du Calvados (SDAC) required the full suite of three-dimensional deliverables, including a three-dimensional model, true orthophotos and line work 1:20 elevations and cross-sections. PCA used a combination of laser scanning and photogrammetric photography to accurately and efficiently record the extant masonry remains. Added value for the client in the form of 360° panoramic photography was also provided. The non-contact nature of the recording techniques was an important factor in the work as a number of Health and Safety concerns were engendered by the perilous state of much of the remains. The survey work will inform and direct much of the restoration work that is planned for the monument prior to its opening to the general public. The complete data set is a powerful and metrically accurate visualisation tool that allows the SDAC to clearly identify and isolate the areas of the monument for which remedial action is paramount.

Prissé-la-Charrière, France

Prissé-la-Charrière (© MoLAS)

Clients: The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research

Author: Joe Severn

During late 2003 MoLAS Geomatics and Plowman Craven Associates carried out a metric survey of a Neolithic burial mound at Prissé-la-Charrière in central France, which was being excavated by the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, a privately funded research organisation based in Cambridge.

During 2004 we returned to record the passage grave situated within the centre of the mound. The burial chamber used corbelled limestone blocks held in place by a large capstone roof, within which could be seen several pieces of human bone and one complete ceramic vessel. The rear wall of this chamber had partially collapsed, rendering it potentially very unsafe, and laser scanning was selected as being a both safe and efficient technique to use.

Laser scanning is a relatively recent survey technique hitherto under-used within the heritage industry. It is able to provide an accurate three-dimensional point in time record of complex surfaces very quickly and without disturbing the object/structure to be recorded. MoLAS have a partnering arrangement with Plowman Craven Associates (PCA), an internationally renowned survey company, and the most experienced in the UK in the use of this technique. The exercise was successfully completed over three days in March of this year. MoLAS/PCA have subsequently been requested to carry out similar scans in passage graves within the tumuli of Barnenez and of St Michel, both in Brittany.

Drogheda, Ireland

Sampling on site (© MoLAS)

Clients: Archaeological Development Services (Europe) Ltd

Author: Dave Mackie

MoLAS Geomatics travelled to Drogheda (north of Dublin, in Co Louth) to take archaeomagnetic samples from medieval pottery kilns (thought to be c 12th–13th century) located on the Old Mart site in the town. The archaeological excavation being carried out by Archaeological Development Services (Europe) Ltd had revealed three kilns and associated areas of medieval pitting. During the visit to the site, two MoLAS geomaticians sampled the two best-preserved kilns, which involved the recovery of well-fired areas of the feature by attaching plastic sample disks to them and careful lifting. Before removal, the sample disks were levelled and then marked to indicate the orientation of the sample in relation to true north (true north being determined using a theodolite-mounted gyro-compass). These measures provided the necessary controls required during their processing phase when the ‘fossilised’ indication of magnetic north contained in the sample since its last firing is measured. One of these kilns still contained wasters from the final firing, sitting on top of the central pedestal area and surviving kiln bars. The recorded samples were then processed by Mark Noel of Geoquest.

Selected projects 2004: Research and development

Capability statement: Research and publication

The Londinium project

Reconstruction of Londinium in the early 2nd century AD (Peter Frost) (© MoLAS)

Author: Roy Stephenson

The role of Roman London — Londinium — in production, consumption and distribution in relation to the London region, the rest of the Roman province and the Empire has been identified as a priority in the research framework for Greater London archaeology. It is known therefore that there is a huge resource of Roman artefacts and ecofacts from London, but the extent of the unpublished material is as yet unknown and the archival data are of varying quality. It is consequently proposed that an assessment should be carried out of the resources available for research, and those required to document and prepare relevant material in such a way as to make it accessible. This major assessment of resources is kindly underwritten by English Heritage.

The chief aim of the overall project, identified in the project design for the assessment, is the study of the wealth of artefactual material from Roman London in order to publish well-illustrated synthetic studies of life in the city and to improve public access to important aspects of the collections. It will draw upon excavated material in the Museum of London's London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre (the LAARC), the Museum of London's reserve collections and important London material in the British Museum. The work will take account of current research priorities, focusing in particular on the people of Roman London and the city's central role in the province, for example in the areas of manufacture and supply.

A primary aim of the project is the creation of an on-line database that will enable researchers to investigate further aspects of social and economic life in Londinium. It is hoped that this will address at least some of the problems concerning the difficulties of consulting an archive that is the product of changing excavation and publication strategies, most due to economic factors.

New research on old archives

Reconstruction of a Bronze Age enclosure at South Hornchurch (© MoLAS)

Clients: Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) and English Heritage

Author: Peter Rowsome

During 2003–4 many MoLAS staff worked on the assessment of a series of large archives from archaeological excavations on gravel extraction sites in Newham, Barking and Dagenham. The sites include important evidence for prehistoric, Late Iron Age/Roman, and later occupation — right up to and including Second World War air defences in some cases.

The work, funded by the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF), resulted in an assessment and updated project design that we sent to English Heritage in April 2004. Currently a proposal for follow-up analysis work is being prepared and will probably take the form of a landscape characterisation of part of the Upminster and Rainham area where six of the nine sites lie.

As part of the assessment, which involved contributors from the Essex County Council Field Archaeology Unit and the University of York, we have now launched a series of web pages and these will be updated during future stages of the project.

Aggregates and archaeology — mapping sub-surface landscapes comprised an assessment of the Lower Lea Valley, and was carried out by MoLAS in collaboration with the British Geological Survey. Results are now summarised on our web pages. The River Lea lies in an area earmarked for regeneration, including the Olympic bid, where extensive quarrying has been carried out in the past. Very little is known about the archaeology that lies within the buried deposits of the Lea Valley but ALSF funding has provided an opportunity to redress this through a mapping project designed to predict areas of archaeological potential within the buried and unknown Quaternary stratigraphy.

A geoarchaeological database of sub-surface alluvial deposits was created by assessing over 3000 boreholes and other archaeological records. A series of contour plots, vertical profiles and horizontal slices (deposit models) have been generated through the sub-surface stratigraphy of the study area using Terrastation II (TSII) and further modelled using GIS-based software. Test-bed work has shown that these deposit models can be used to reconstruct the sub-surface stratigraphy of the evolving landscape. The sub-surface mapping technology used in the Lea Valley mapping project has transformed the way we can assess archaeological potential and could be readily applied to other areas where there is a threat from aggregate extraction.

Preservation in situ

Front cover of 'Preserving archaeological remains in situ' (© MoLAS)

Author: Nick Bateman

In 2004 MoLAS published Preserving archaeological remains in situ?. This is a collection of papers and posters which were presented at the second ‘Preserving archaeological remains in situ?’ (PARIS2) conference, held at the Museum of London in 2002. The conference set out to address three main themes: to review recent research; to examine the relative successes and consequences of decisions — especially those taken in the last decade or so — to preserve particular sites in situ; and to try to identify strategic directions for future research into the protection of our cultural heritage. The 37 contributions in these conference proceedings form a comprehensive collection of some of the key issues facing researchers and historic environment managers today, and are an important reference work for the protection of the historic environment tomorrow. The collection was edited by Taryn Nixon, Managing Director of MoLAS.

Biographies of London life

Detail from fragment of Limehouse porcelain (© MoLAS)

Authors: Dan Hicks and Nigel Jeffries

Between Samuel Pepys writing his first diaries in 1660 and the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, London developed from a major European trading centre at the beginning of colonial expansion to a world city and a centre of Empire. The city's population exploded from around 600,000 at the turn of the 18th century to over six million by 1901. The urban fabric and population expanded and intertwined; from the old historic core centred on the City of London, it now included areas such as the West End (Covent Garden, the Strand), the East End (Spitalfields, Bethnal Green, Whitechapel), Lambeth (Brixton, Vauxhall) and Southwark (from Borough High Street to Peckham, Camberwell and Dulwich). During the 20th century the metropolis continued its growth.

Many stories have been told about the London and Londoners of the past four centuries. 19th-century authors such as Charles Dickens, Henry Mayhew and Karl Marx wrote at length about aspects of London life, while 18th-century satirists like William Hogarth poked fun at it. Contemporary writers such as Peter Ackroyd have evoked a city brimming with people and things: a city of fire, riots, bombs, and gas-lit murders in the fog. Such stories help London's past come to life in the present.

With such stories in mind, a major new Museum of London research programme, ‘Biographies of London life’, has been formed. The Museum of London has collected material from thousands of post-medieval sites. These sites have ranged from the 18th-century porcelain factory at Limehouse, to a complete late 17th- to mid 19th-century suburb to the north and west of Spitalfields market, and William Shakespeare's Rose Theatre. Numerous excavations have yielded hundreds of thousands of post-medieval artefacts (nearly 250,000 pieces of pottery, 33,000 clay tobacco pipe, and countless quantities of glass and animal bone from the last ten years alone) and environmental remains (food and plants). Artefacts range from the clay tobacco pipes smoked by members of the audience during a Shakespearean performance to the smashed windows, broken sets of china, and glass bottles discarded by the inhabitants of Victorian Spitalfields.

However, despite such quantities of rich material available for analysis, the archaeology of London's recent past remains little studied. The recently published A research framework for London archaeology 2002 (Museum of London) acknowledges this gap in our knowledge, and among its concerns are the lack of integration between groups of artefacts and the specific historical records available to help us identify the Londoners responsible for using and discarding such material.

The past year has therefore seen the Museum of London develop the ‘Biographies of London life’, a programme that examines 17th- to 20th-century Londoners through their changing material culture. This has been developed in partnership with the School of Historical and European Studies at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia, and the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Bristol.

[excerpt from 'Biographies of London Life' by Hicks, Dan and Jeffries, Nigel 2004 Museum of London Research Matters 3]

Selected projects 2004: Finds research

Capability statement: Finds management from processing to research

Roman pottery study

Selection of Roman pots made at the 2nd-century AD kiln site at Moorgate (© MoLAS)

Author: Roy Stephenson

Museum of London Specialist Services hosted the Study Group for Roman Pottery conference in early July, which allowed all delegates to take full advantage of the vast quantity of Roman pottery in the archive. In addition the newly available ceramic and glass store was inspected by all. Papers presented by Museum of London staff included: Bruce Watson, ‘Friends, Romans, countrymen lend me your pots!’; Robin P Symonds, ‘Evolution of Roman pottery studies in London’; and Angela Wardle, ‘The Londinium project’. Further papers revolved around the themes of London, romanisation, and trade and supply. Other events included a walking tour of Roman London and the presentation of papers to honour the work of Kay Hartley on mortaria. The events were generously supported by Museum of London curatorial staff.

Chersonesos, Ukraine

Condition survey of the collections at the National Preserve of Chersonesos, Ukraine (© MoLAS)

Author: Roy Stephenson

Museum of London Specialist Services conservators and Collections Care staff visited the archaeological stores at The National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos in the Ukraine. The ancient Greek colony of Chersonesos, situated in the extreme south-west corner of Crimea in the Ukraine, was founded in the 6th century BC by colonists from Heraklea Pontika. The site is located in the suburbs of Sevastopol, headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet, and one of the most secret places of the Cold War; it was a closed city until 1996. The staff of the National Preserve are highly skilled but lack the resources to do justice to their collections, but with pragmatic experience gained from the establishment of the Museum of London's London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre (the LAARC), Specialist Services staff inspected and recorded the stores, library and archive, and created a series of recommendations for the long-term well-being of the collections. The work was carried out in association with University of Texas and Cleere Conservation.

Mitre Square stove tiles (CQU04)

Fragment of stove tile (© MoLAS)

Clients: CgMs Consulting

Author: Roy Stephenson

During excavations at a site in Mitre Square (City of London), fragments from at least eight panel-type stove tiles were found along with one crest tile and five vertical, T-sectioned separator tiles. All but one of the fragments is in a dark red, earthenware fabric with a thick white slip on the exterior surface under a dark green glaze. The one exception is a separator tile in a pale buff earthenware, made in the same mould as the redware examples from the site, and with traces of polychrome glazing. The redware body suggests an origin just outside the Cologne area, somewhere in the lower or middle Rhineland, in the 1560s to 1570s.

The stove tiles all appear to come from the allegorical tile series of the ‘Seven liberal arts’, produced in Cologne and neighbouring centres in the Rhineland during the 1560s and 1570s. The original series of engravings on which these were based was produced by Hans Sebald Beham in 1539. The Renaissance architectural arch supported by herms, within which the allegorical figures are set, was based on a series of woodcut engravings by Hans Holbein, published between 1535 and 1543.

The vertical separator tiles (Leistenkacheln) all come from the same mould, with a figure representing Atlas, his arms folded, supporting an ionic capital and standing on a fluted column base The one whiteware separator tile was probably made in Cologne c 1570—80 and the redware examples in the same general area at a similar date. They would have covered the vertical seams between the rectangular panel-type stove tiles. Not enough of the redware crest tile (Bekrönungskachel) has survived for the main, central design to be identified.

Imported 16th-century stove tiles have been found on a number of sites in London, with several examples already known from Holy Trinity Priory Aldgate. All share the same designs as the recent finds from Mitre Square (which lies within the former precinct of Holy Trinity Priory), with panel-type stove tiles from the ‘Seven liberal arts’ series, including Logic and Hope, and Atlas and caryatid separator tiles. These can again be paralleled by a large assemblage of stove tiles from the Cologne area found at the end of the 19th century off Fleet Street, probably close to the Inns of Court.

During the 15th and early 16th centuries, the smokeless ceramic stove, imported from the Continent, was the exclusive preserve of monastic sites in England (for example, Fountains Abbey). By the mid 16th century, the social context in which ceramic stoves are found had begun to broaden. Following the Dissolution, the dispersal of former religious houses to the wealthy classes saw the increasing appearance of Continental tile stoves in large town houses, such as Duke's Place, on the site of the former Holy Trinity Priory. They are also found on palace sites, such as Arundel House and, in the case of the Fleet Street finds, in the residences of the wealthy middle classes. The finds from Mitre Square add considerably to the number of stove-tile fragments already known from Holy Trinity Priory. They may have come from the same stove, or from one of several of the same design built during the 1560s or 1570s in the town residence of the Duke of Norfolk, which had been established in the monastic complex by 1554.

Biographies of London life

Bowl of Victorian clay pipe; from a site in Walthamstow (© MoLAS)

Authors: Dan Hicks and Nigel Jeffries

Between Samuel Pepys writing his first diaries in 1660 and the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, London developed from a major European trading centre at the beginning of colonial expansion to a world city and a centre of Empire. The city's population exploded from around 600,000 at the turn of the 18th century to over six million by 1901. The urban fabric and population expanded and intertwined; from the old historic core centred on the City of London, it now included areas such as the West End (Covent Garden, the Strand), the East End (Spitalfields, Bethnal Green, Whitechapel), Lambeth (Brixton, Vauxhall) and Southwark (from Borough High Street to Peckham, Camberwell and Dulwich). During the 20th century the metropolis continued its growth.

Many stories have been told about the London and Londoners of the past four centuries. 19th-century authors such as Charles Dickens, Henry Mayhew and Karl Marx wrote at length about aspects of London life, while 18th-century satirists like William Hogarth poked fun at it. Contemporary writers such as Peter Ackroyd have evoked a city brimming with people and things: a city of fire, riots, bombs, and gas-lit murders in the fog. Such stories help London's past come to life in the present.

With such stories in mind, a major new Museum of London research programme, ‘Biographies of London life’, has been formed. The Museum of London has collected material from thousands of post-medieval sites. These sites have ranged from the 18th-century porcelain factory at Limehouse, to a complete late 17th- to mid 19th-century suburb to the north and west of Spitalfields market, and William Shakespeare's Rose Theatre. Numerous excavations have yielded hundreds of thousands of post-medieval artefacts (nearly 250,000 pieces of pottery, 33,000 clay tobacco pipe, and countless quantities of glass and animal bone from the last ten years alone) and environmental remains (food and plants). Artefacts range from the clay tobacco pipes smoked by members of the audience during a Shakespearean performance to the smashed windows, broken sets of china, and glass bottles discarded by the inhabitants of Victorian Spitalfields.

However, despite such quantities of rich material available for analysis, the archaeology of London's recent past remains little studied. The recently published A research framework for London archaeology 2002 (Museum of London) acknowledges this gap in our knowledge, and among its concerns are the lack of integration between groups of artefacts and the specific historical records available to help us identify the Londoners responsible for using and discarding such material.

The past year has therefore seen the Museum of London develop the ‘Biographies of London life’, a programme that examines 17th- to 20th-century Londoners through their changing material culture. This has been developed in partnership with the School of Historical and European Studies at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia, and the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Bristol.

[excerpt from 'Biographies of London Life' by Hicks, Dan and Jeffries, Nigel 2004 Museum of London Research Matters 3]

Selected projects 2004: Human osteology

Capability statement: Environmental archaeology

Spitalfields Roman cemetery, Tower Hamlets (SRP98)

The sarcophagus of 'Spitalfields woman' (© MoLAS)

Clients: Spitalfields Development Group

Author: Natasha Powers

The detailed analysis of c 200 Roman burials recovered from the excavations at Spitalfields Market began this year. Clusters of juvenile burials and possible family plots had been identified archaeologically and the osteological data will be examined in this light. This work also draws in small numbers of burials from adjacent, previously excavated sites.

Despite heavy truncation, it was possible to obtain some demographic data from cremations. No indications of pathological conditions were recoverable but it was possible to derive information on pyre temperature and funerary ritual. It appears that the cremation process had been carried out efficiently and evenly with the cremated bone separated from the remainder of the pyre debris, although charred seeds and plant remains were also recovered. Deliberate movement of the body on the burning pyre, collection of the hot bone, quenching, and post-depositional fragmentation may all have contributed to breakages in the cremated bone. As no in situ burning of the underlying surfaces or cremation structures was noted, the exact location of the original pyre sites could not be determined. Unburnt animal bone may represent the remains of ritual feasting or grave inclusions, and a cremated juvenile sheep vertebra is almost certainly associated with the funeral and cremation process.

The preservation of the inhumed remains was extremely variable. There are a considerable number of juveniles in the recorded assemblage. Examples of dental disease, deficiency diseases, infection and healed fractures have all been identified. The work now under way will also include a full analysis of the high-status female burial, the so-called ‘Spitalfields woman’, currently on display in the Museum of London.

Augherskea, Ireland

Upper cervical vertebrae of adult male with evidence of sharp force trauma (© MoLAS)

Clients: Margaret Gowen and Co Ltd

Author: Natasha Powers

Specialist Services' analysis of a medieval cemetery from Co Meath in Ireland for Margaret Gowen and Co Ltd resulted in the full recording of 24 sub-adults and 152 adults. The majority of the adults could not be given an estimate of sex due to poor preservation. The average height for males was 1.72m and for females 1.54m.

A number of robust middle-aged males had evidence of injuries from weapons. One of these had been decapitated, possible in a judicial execution. Another had evidence of a multiple blade injuries to the skull, including one which was very similar to an injury found on one of the individuals in a mass grave associated with the bloody battle of Towton (Yorkshire) (1461).

Unusual pathological conditions recorded in other burials include one case of enlargement of the incisive foramen as the result of cyst, several individuals with congenital spinal anomalies and two with malformed ribs. Single examples of a button osteoma, a probable case of secondary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy and Paget's disease were also noted in the assemblage. Sixteen individuals (including three juveniles) had infectious changes, three cases possibly the result of tuberculosis and two further burials with definite indications of the disease. Finally, a number of possible multiple burials were identified by using the osteological information together with site plans and photos. The absence of any zoning of young juvenile burials and inclusion within the cemetery boundary of those who died violent deaths produces a contradictory picture of the funerary practices, which may indicate an inclusive cemetery, with no separate cillin (a site for the disposal of unconsecrated burials, particularly of children).

Paternoster Square, City of London (NGT00)

Excavating early Roman features at the Paternoster site (© MoLAS)

Clients: Mitsubishi Estate

Author: Natasha Powers

Analysis has been undertaken this year on two contemporary inhumations found within a boundary ditch at Newgate Triangle, Paternoster Square (see project report), and dated to the earliest phases of Roman occupation. Although one of the burials was ‘prone’, it appears from the alignment of the skeleton that both burials were originally lying in similar positions: flexed and resting on the right side, feet pointing towards each other. The prone torso was simply the result of the body collapsing forwards during decomposition. The first individual was in their late teens at the time of death, whilst the second burial was a young adult; both were probably male. One individual had a dog buried over its knees.

Burials adjacent to or within boundary ditches are common throughout Britain, but are generally associated with rural areas. Alhough this practice has been suggested to be expedient and probably disrespectful disposal of human remains, the careful positioning of these two young men indicates a symbolic meaning to the location to be far more likely in this case. When considering these burials it is important to remember that, given the very early date of the ditch fill, and the distance from the then centre of Londinium, comparisons with burial practices found in rural areas may be of more relevance.

Ritual burials of dogs are known from the Iron Age and Roman periods in Britain, and as possible animal sacrifices in richly furnished graves. In ritual shafts at Springfield, Kent, small dogs (suggested to be sacrificial) were found buried in baskets with neonates (newborns). Two complete dogs were found in Roman London's eastern cemetery and appeared contemporary with its use as a place of human interment. Animal burials have even been suggested to form the focal point for the development of cemeteries, but few references can be found to inclusion of dogs directly with the deceased.

St Pancras burial ground, Camden

The coffin plate of Pierre Augustin Godart de Belboeuf (© Union Railways (North) Limited)

Clients: Gifford & Partners (for Rail Link Engineering)

Author: Natasha Powers and Phil Emery (Gifford)

Post-excavation and publication work on the findings from the excavation at the burial ground of St Pancras Old Church is taking place as the result of an exciting partnership with the London archaeological team of Gifford and Partners, who have commissioned MoLAS and MoLSS to carry out significant elements of this project on behalf of Rail Link Engineering. Together with the Gifford team, Museum of London Specialist Services will be analysing the findings and MoLAS will then edit and produce a monograph and other web-based material on the results of the work.

Analysis has now started on the post-medieval skeletons from the burial ground extension (in use between 1793 and 1854), recovered from the watching brief during construction of the new London terminus for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. A wealth of pathological and demographic data was collected from the generally very well-preserved remains, in addition to evidence of autopsies and suspected anatomical dissections.

The St Pancras burials represent all social classes — from the destitute to the nobility. A number of higher-status, and formerly wealthy, people have been identified from coffin plate inscriptions. These include refugees from the French Revolution, amongst whom were Pierre Augustin Godart de Belboeuf (1730–1808), (the last) Bishop of Avranches, and Arthur Richard Dillon (1721–1806), Archbishop of Narbonne and Primate of Languedoc. Archbishop Dillon had been interred wearing a fine set of porcelain dentures — a French innovation that enjoyed only short-lived acceptance in Britain. Initial research suggests that these historic dentures are unique in the archaeological record. Further research and scientific analysis is to be undertaken with the intention of publication in an appropriate specialist journal.

Together with documentary research into the lives of the many identified individuals, osteology is providing significant insights into the health of the population and changing attitudes to death and dissection during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Selected projects 2004: Conservation

Capability statement: Conservation

Feeney Neil sarcophagi, Guildhall, City of London

The Guildhall, City of London (© Guildhall Library)

Clients: Corporation of London

Author: Roy Stephenson

Museum of London Specialist Services conservators and Collections Care staff have been cleaning two sarcophagi from a crypt, the Feeney Neil room, at the Guildhall. The residual contents of the sarcophagi are to be wet sieved by Specialist Services environmental staff in an attempt to recover evidence of the inhumation and associated grave goods. This is one example of Specialist Services working closely with the Corporation of London; other tasks include maintenance visits to the Guildhall amphitheatre.

Maidstone Museum, Kent

Maidstone Museum (© Maidstone Museum)

Clients: Maidstone Museum and Bentlif Art Gallery

Author: Roy Stephenson

Museum of London Specialist Services continues to supply expertise to regional and special interest museums, the Maidstone Museum and Bentlif Art Gallery being one such institution. Maidstone Museum was established in 1858 and now houses over 660,000 artefacts and specimens. They are outstanding in their diversity and quality and some are of national and even international importance. The work of collectors, staff and benefactors over 145 years has created an overwhelmingly rich and diverse collection of far greater than regional significance. Conservators have provided practical advice to Maidstone Museum, and support for ongoing projects.

Conservation of the Prittlewell lyre

Prittlewell lyre as found (colour has been enhanced for clarity) (© MoLAS)

Clients: Southend-on-Sea Borough Council

Author: Liz Barham

The lyre lifted from the Prittlewell Saxon burial consists of a thin layer of very decayed wood and corroded metal fittings on a thick block of sand. This is the first Saxon lyre to be excavated and lifted in this country with all its fittings still in their original positions and the main dimensions of its structure still detectable. As part of the conservation work on the object it has been CT scanned at the Paul Strickland Scanner Centre, Mount Vernon Hospital, in Middlesex. As a result it has been possible to record the remains in three dimensions, and locate some fittings, including what appears to be the bridge of the instrument, that could not be picked up using conventional X-ray techniques.

Museum of London Specialist Services conservators are also working with SGI, a company specialising in image volumisation (who recently completed the Nesperrenub mummy project for the British Museum), to make the visual information from the CT scan accessible so that it can guide the investigative work on the object in the short term. In the long term it could also enable the development of an interactive presentation of the lyre as part of new displays planned for Southend Central Museum.

Following the recording and imaging of the instrument as a whole, the parts of the lyre that survive can then be separated from the soil block for analysis and treatment. The conservation work aims to avoid distortion or disintegration of the wood remains and protect the metalwork, while investigating the materials, evidence of construction and any decorative techniques used. During the conservation work, liaison with specialists in ancient lyre design has been invaluable, in particular Graeme Lawson from the McDonald Institute of Archaeological Research, Cambridge University. For more information and more images of the lyre, click here to see our latest report.

Selected projects 2004: Publication

For information about MoLAS publications click here

Capability statement: Research and publication

Capability statement: Visualisation

The publication programme

By the end of 2004 MoLAS will have produced another ten major publications in-house, bringing the total to nearly 50 since the programme began in earnest less than ten years ago. We have continued to deliver publications to a high quality specification and at a sustained level of up to ten books per year, including both EH- and PPG16-funded work. Nearly 50 other publications are in the pipeline and will continue to appear at a rate of about ten per year for the remainder of this decade.

The MoLAS approach has included the development of separate publication series appropriate for a wide variety of projects and their academic and client needs. MoLAS books are produced in-house by an experienced professional team who oversee the design, style and format of each publication series. Principal authors and contributors are advised at each stage of the post-excavation and publication work. Everything takes place at Eagle Wharf Road except for printing, and project budgets and timetables are closely monitored throughout the entire process.

The Monograph Series deals with topics of regional and national significance, whilst the Archaeology Studies Series focuses on sites of local and regional significance. Popular and accessible books present important archaeological discoveries and themes to a wider audience in an illustration-led format. Other work has included technical manuals and collected papers on mitigation strategies and preservation of archaeological remains in situ. Smaller projects continue to form the majority of our work and most of these continue to go to local, regional and national peer-reviewed journals.

Traditional print is expected to be the mainstay of our publication work for many years, but further advances are being made in the development of arrangements for publication on the internet and via data hubs such as the London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre at the Museum of London and the Archaeology Data Service at York. Whatever the final product, publication work at MoLAS will continue to set an emphasis on giving field archaeologists and specialists the career opportunities they need to become authors.

All of our books are available directly from MoLAS through our web pages, and also from the Museum of London shop, many high street shops and through Oxbow Books.

The Greater London publication programme

Front cover of 'Excavations at the priory of the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, Clerkenwell, London' (© MoLAS)

Clients: English Heritage

Authors of this text: Dick Malt and Peter Rowsome

Principal authors: Various

The Greater London publication programme is a joint venture between English Heritage and MoLAS which aims to analyse and publish important pre-PPG16 projects identified in the London post-excavation review (Andrews, Hinton and Thomas, 1991 and 1997). More recently the programme has been augmented by an editorial programme, also funded by English Heritage, and will include some post-PPG16 projects, such as 1 Poultry and work funded by the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF).

The Greater London programme identified several major research themes, including the prehistoric sites of the west London gravel plateau, Roman cemeteries, the Roman and medieval archaeology of Southwark, Shakespearian playhouses, medieval religious houses and Middle Saxon occupation sites. Finds-based projects include Tudor and Stuart artefacts from Southwark, Westminster tiles, early medieval ceramics, and post-medieval industries such as delftware, glass and porcelain production.

To date MoLAS and English Heritage have published 13 monographs and studies on a broad range of topics. The most recent monograph is Excavations at the priory of the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, Clerkenwell, London. The Order, which supported pilgrimages and ran a great hospital in Jerusalem, founded a house in Clerkenwell in 1144 which became their only priory in England and their headquarters here. Excavations have revealed how St John's evolved into a sumptuous palatial complex very different from a normal monastic institution.

The monograph Material culture in London in an age of transition: Tudor and Stuart period finds c 1450–c 1700 from excavations at riverside sites in Southwark will appear at the end of the year. Over coming years over 20 more English Heritage-funded books will appear in the Monograph and Archaeology Studies Series.

Several popular books have also been commissioned, with publication of Heart of the City, about discoveries at 1 Poultry, soon to be followed by books on Old London bridge lost and found (see below) and Medieval religion. These books draw on the analytical work already carried out but use an illustration-led format to reach a larger audience. Like the monographs and studies, they have been well reviewed both for their design and content.

The Monograph and Archaeology Studies Series publications

Front cover of 'Investigating the maritime history of Rotherhithe: excavations at Pacific Wharf, 165 Rotherhithe Street, Southwark' (© MoLAS)

Clients: Various

Author of this text: Peter Rowsome

Principal authors: Various

More than half of our Monograph Series and the majority of our Archaeology Studies Series publications are for private clients. Most of these are in the property sector although we find ourselves attracting an increasing amount of work from museums, heritage consultants and even other archaeological contractors.

Our most recent developer-funded monograph was Roman and medieval Cripplegate, City of London: excavations 1992–8. The discovery of the fort at Cripplegate after the Second World War revolutionised our understanding of Roman London, and redevelopment between 1995 and 2000 presented a unique opportunity to re-examine the sites. Archaeological contractors working within the framework of PPG16 are often criticised for creating a patchwork of stand-alone single-site reports with little synthesis or overview, and we are therefore very pleased to report that the archaeological consultant (CgMs) and six different developers at the recent Cripplegate sites were keen to work with us to create a single joint publication of far greater ‘value added’ merit than six separate reports could ever have achieved.

The Archaeology Studies Series publications are intended to provide good-quality analysis work on important sites to the wide range of readers with a particular interest in a locale's archaeological heritage. MoLAS has established a successful scheme in association with the main local archaeological societies for London — London and Middlesex Archaeological Society (LAMAS) and Surrey Archaeological Society (SyAS) — for the free distribution of copies of Archaeology Studies to any local society members who would like one. We aim to produce several Archaeology Studies per year and would like to expand the scheme beyond London when the opportunity arises.

Medieval and later urban development at High Street, Uxbridge, no. 12 in our Archaeology Studies Series, presents the results of work at the Chimes Shopping Centre and traces the growth of the medieval town, including 12th-century pottery production and later industries. Our next Archaeology Studies Series publication, Pre-Boudican and later activity on the site of the forum, will look at the recent excavations at 168 Fenchurch Street and update our knowledge of Roman London's forum and basilica, sometimes cited as the largest Roman building north of the Alps.

We welcome comments and feedback about these or any of our other publications, ideas about how future work could be designed to fit into the evolving research agenda for London archaeology, and how we can continue to improve our dissemination of archaeological results to the public.

Popular and accessible booklets

Front cover of 'Life and death in London's East End: 2000 years at Spitalfields' (© MoLAS)

Clients: Various

Author of this text: Peter Rowsome

Principal authors: Various

The new year got off to a flying start when London's archaeological secrets won the Longman's History Today 'New Generation Book of the Year' award on 8 January 2004. This illustration-led book, published in association with Yale University Press and chronicling the last 30 years of London archaeology's discoveries, was edited by Chris Thomas with Andy Chopping and Tracy Wellman and came out in June 2003.

Life and death in London's East End: 2000 years at Spitalfields, published in the spring of 2004, is a 100-page full-colour book chronicling the remarkable discoveries on the site of Spitalfields Market — the burial ground for wealthy Romans and location of one of the country's largest and most important medieval hospitals. Over 10,000 skeletons were found in the medieval cemetery, believed to be the single largest archaeologically recorded group in the world.

Spring also saw the launch of a very different book — Lambeth unearthed: an archaeological history of Lambeth. This popular archaeology and history of the borough was published with Southwark and Lambeth Archaeological Excavation Committee for the Lambeth Archives Department. It joins Under Hackney and we look forward to co-producing popular books for other boroughs in the future.

More recently we have published The Prittlewell prince: the discovery of a rich Anglo-Saxon burial in Essex, an abundantly illustrated colour booklet describing the excavation and preliminary interpretation of a remarkable 7th-century AD princely burial from Southend.

In November, Lambeth unearthed was runner-up in the SCOLA (Standing Conference on London Archaeology) competition for ‘best book on London archaeology in 2002 and 2003’. The winner was our own Investigating the maritime history of Rotherhithe (MoLAS Archaeolgy Studies Series 11, 2003), by Kieron Heard with Damian Goodburn.

November will also see the launch of our latest popular book, Old London bridge lost and found, which draws on the English Heritage-funded analysis for our London bridge monograph, which is now sold out. The Thames has been described as ‘liquid history’ and the archaeology and history of one of our best-known monuments surely reflects this, ranging from the establishment of the Roman bridge to the great 12th-century stone bridge lined with houses, and Rennie's 1831 bridge which was replaced in 1967 and now stands at Lake Havasu City, Arizona. The book combines the latest analysis with Gordon Home's research and Peter Jackson's fine illustrations of London's greatest bridge, the source of the ‘keep left’ rule of the road.

Surveys, handbooks and manuals

Front cover of 'Roman and medieval Cripplegate, City of London: archaeological excavations 1992–8' (© MoLAS)

Clients: Various

Author of this text: Peter Rowsome

Principal authors: Various

MoLAS also publishes manuals, conference papers, handbooks and surveys, some of these for other organisations. We have just produced Mitigation of construction impact on archaeological remains for English Heritage. The book provides information and advice for archaeologists faced with choosing between preservation, protection or excavation of sites threatened by development, and includes examples of mitigation strategies and techniques.

It is complimented by Preserving archaeological remains in situ?, a collection of papers and posters from the PARIS2 conference which review recent research and attempts to preserve particular sites in situ. The 37 contributions cover many of the key issues facing researchers and historic environment managers, and are an important reference work for the protection of the historic environment.

Our Archaeological site manual continues to be a perennial bestseller and we look forward to developing new and revised manuals in a number of areas in the future.

Web-based publication

Map of sites identified in the East London Gravels report (© MoLAS)

Clients: Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) and English Heritage

Author of this text: Peter Rowsome

Principal authors: Various

In addition to traditional print books, MoLAS is developing ideas for web-based dissemination of archaeological work. Two recent examples of web page development come from our ALSF-funded projects.

Understanding the East London gravels is an assessment of a series of large archives from archaeological excavations on gravel extraction sites in Newham, Barking and Dagenham. The sites include important evidence for prehistoric, Late Iron Age, Roman and later occupation — right up to and including Second World War air defences in some cases. As part of the assessment, which involved contributors from the Essex County Council Field Archaeology Unit and the University of York, we have now launched a series of web pages and these will be updated and added to during future stages of the project.

Aggregates and archaeology — mapping sub-surface landscapes assesses the Lower Lea Valley, work carried out by MoLAS in collaboration with the British Geological Survey and also now summarised on our web site. The River Lea lies in an area earmarked for regeneration, including the Olympic bid, where extensive quarrying has been carried out in the past. Very little is known about the archaeology that lies within the buried deposits of the Lea Valley but ALSF funding has provided an opportunity to redress this through a mapping project designed to predict areas of archaeological potential within the buried and unknown Quaternary stratigraphy.

A geoarchaeological database of sub-surface alluvial deposits was created by assessing over 3000 boreholes and other archaeological records. A series of contour plots, vertical profiles and horizontal slices (deposit models) have been generated through the sub-surface stratigraphy of the study area using Terrastation II (TSII) and further modelled using GIS-based software. Test-bed work has shown that these deposit models can be used to reconstruct the sub-surface stratigraphy of the evolving landscape. The sub-surface mapping technology used in the Lea Valley mapping project has transformed the way we can assess archaeological potential and could be readily applied to other areas where there is a threat from aggregate extraction.

Selected projects 2004: Media

‘Hole lot of digging’ (article in Contract Journal)

Merton Abbey Mills (© MoLAS)

Clients: Countryside Properties and Copthorn Homes

Author: Derek Seeley

Merton Abbey Mills is a large site earmarked some years ago for future redevelopment although from the start the likelihood of surviving important medieval remains needed to be taken into account. The whole site lies within the precinct of Merton Priory, although only a part of it is designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument, within which structural remains were definitely known to survive (see also here).

In July 2004 MoLAS was commissioned to prepare a two-page special feature in Contract Journal (a weekly newspaper ‘written specifically for management in the UK construction industry’) about the site and how heritage issues were being handled. This focused on how the developers, Countryside Properties, and their design team involved archaeologists from the earliest stages in the planning process to gather new evidence, using both intrusive and non-intrusive means, to assess the survival of archaeological remains at the site. This information was then used to facilitate the design of a scheme that would both satisfy the requirements of the developer and safeguard the heritage of the site.

The piece also demonstrated how, with good communication, both main contractor and archaeological team can work together effectively to allow construction to progress whilst taking into account archaeological requirements.

See also this report for how the local community has been involved in this project; and this report on continuing fieldwork.

Spitalfields time capsule report

Objects in the time capsule (© East London Advertiser)

Clients: Spitalfields Development Group

Author: Chris Thomas

To mark the completion of the below-ground structure of the new Bishop Square development at Spitalfields, a time capsule was buried, in front of a specially invited audience, close to the successfully preserved medieval charnel house on 22 April 2004. Various artefacts were placed in the time capsule by a number of relevant parties: a copy of the day's local paper by the leader of London Borough of Tower Hamlets; a CD of architects' drawings by Lord Foster; a Spitalfields Market porter's badge by Robert Finch, the Lord Mayor of London; a copy of a book about the development by Mike Bear, chief executive of Spitalfields Development Group; and a copy of the MoLAS book about the excavations at Spitalfields by Taryn Nixon, Managing Director of MoLAS.

The event was one of a series during April which marked the completion of one phase of the Spitalfields redevelopment. On Sunday 25 April MoLAS held a party to launch its new popular book on the archaeological work to date, Life and death in London's East End, with a stall at the Market.

Prittlewell media coverage (PR03)

Children at the temporary Prittlewell exhibition (© MoLAS)

Clients: Southend-on-Sea Borough Council

Author: Dave Lakin

The excavation of a spectacular Saxon royal burial in Southend was carried out by MoLAS late in 2003 under conditions of strict secrecy but finally announced to the public at a news conference held at the Museum of London early in February 2004. An exhibition featuring 11 of the objects from the grave was opened at the Museum on 5 February and ran for two weeks during which time over 11,000 visitors viewed the finds. The exhibition subsequently transferred to Southend Central Museum and ran for a further month attracting another 20,000 + visitors.

Media coverage of the launch during February and throughout spring 2004 was considerable. Radio and TV interviews with both local and national media were given by Taryn Nixon the Managing Director of MoLAS, Dave Lakin the Project Manager, and Ian Blair the Senior Archaeologist. Features appeared in local and national newspapers.

Radio Big Toe

BBC Radio 7 Logo (© BBC)

Clients: British Broadcasting Corporation

Author: Nick Bateman

Listeners tuning in to digital radio BBC7's Big Toe show on Thursday 29 July at about 4.00pm would have heard MoLAS Senior Archaeologist Lindy Casson speaking to presenters and an invited audience of 8–12 year olds about life as a MoLAS archaeologist. In a lively and engaging way she gave them and listeners handy insights into why archaeology is about more than just the ‘finds’ which are recovered from site, how modern archaeologists use tools ranging from pickaxes to small trowels, and what might turn up in your garden, plus an interesting digression on Roman noses!

Selected projects 2004: Learning and outreach

The Wandle Valley Festival 12–13 June 2004

Members of the public looking at finds (© MoLAS)

Author: David Saxby

During the weekend of 12–13 June 2004 the Wandle Valley Festival was held to celebrate the history of the River Wandle. As part of the festival MoLAS’s David Saxby and Richard Hewett were responsible for opening the Merton Priory chapter house to the public to stage a series of displays and events, which attracted over 500 local visitors.

Inside the chapter house were displays of artefacts from Roman times to the Pre-Raphaelite and Art Nouveau movements of William Morris and Arthur Liberty (William Morris had factories at Merton Abbey in the late 19th century; see this report for more history of the Merton Abbey mills). A Roman shop and William Morris room were built within the chapter house, using donated timber and scrap wood from the adjacent building site’s skip. The Roman shop was fitted out with replica Roman items kindly supplied by Jenny Hall of the Museum of London. The William Morris room was decorated in the Morris style of the 1890s and contained fabric printed by Liberty & Co, and a fire surround with replica Morris tiles donated by a local potter. On the Sunday a silk block printing display was presented by Mary Hart of the Wandle Industrial Museum who printed with Liberty’s original wooden print blocks.

The chapter house was also the setting for the Museum of London’s ‘The Dig!’, an archaeological activity for children (see here for more information). This is the first time ‘The Dig!’ has taken place outside the Museum and over 100 local children and families took part. It was supplied by John Sheppard and Steve Tucker of LAARC and run by Lindy Casson, Chris Tripp and Alison Leppard.

At Merton Abbey Mills, Young’s Brewery provided rides with their shire horses and dray and there was the cutting of a giant birthday cake to celebrate Merton Abbey Mills’s 15th birthday and the opening of a new bridge over the River Wandle by the local mayors.

Clerkenwell Biennale

Cattle run in St John Street (© London Architecture Biennale)

Author: Chris Thomas

Chris Thomas represented MoLAS on the London Architecture Biennale committee in both 2003 and 2004. The Biennale event was held in Clerkenwell in June 2004 and functioned as a celebration of the architecture and history of the area and wider afield. MoLAS had a wide-ranging involvement in the staging of the Biennale including providing a lecture on the archaeology of Clerkenwell (delivered by Barney Sloane) at the Museum of the Order of St John at St John’s Gate, helping to deliver an outdoor exhibition on the River Fleet, and working with our colleagues from the Survey of London who put together a marvellous display on their work in Clerkenwell.

Many other events and exhibitions were held in the area, often based in the remarkable Farmiloes building in St John Street. One of the highlights of the Biennale event was the ‘cattle run’ held in a closed-off St John Street on the opening Saturday.

MoLAS will continue to be involved in future London Architecture Biennales, with the next to be held in 2006.

Syon Park training excavation (MoLAS and Birkbeck College) (SYP03)

2004 trenches at Syon Park (© Birkbeck College 2004)

Author: Roy Stephenson

The 2004 Birkbeck training excavation took place in the grounds of Syon Park. Syon House, the London home of the Duke of Northumberland, is built on the site of Syon (Sion) Abbey, which was the only Bridgettine house in England during the medieval period. The abbey — founded by Henry V, who also established a Carthusian monastery and royal palace on the opposite bank of the Thames at Shene (Richmond) — was a dual order serving nuns and monks. At the time of its suppression in 1539 the abbey was one of the wealthiest in the country.

In May 2003 an archaeological evaluation was undertaken by Channel 4's ‘Time Team’ to locate the ground plan of the abbey church and associated precinct. The evaluation comprised a geophysical survey and eight trial trenches, which successfully identified the church and enabled an interpretative plan of part of the abbey to be proposed. The trenches confirmed some aspects of the survey and began to examine the internal church layout including the location of pier bases (not revealed by the geophysical survey). Evidence for post-Dissolution phases and features from the 17th- and 18th-century formal gardens were also identified.

Syon Park is located on sand and gravel of the Kempton Park Terrace, and may once have been on an island cut off from the Middlesex bank by an oxbow of the River Thames. Today the river lies approximately 250m to the south-east. This area is also of interest for earlier periods, evidenced by the Late Bronze Age metalwork hoard eroded from the Syon Park riverbank and the Early to Middle Iron Age settlement evidence from nearby Snowy Fielder Waye, Isleworth. Roman and Saxon finds have also been recovered, particularly in the Brentford area.

MoLAS and Museum of London Specialist Services supplied the site supervisor, digging equipment, geomatic expertise, finds processing staff and specialists during the course of the excavation. Students enrolled on the training dig found the input from professional experts an important and enjoyable part of the course. MoLAS and Specialist Services continue to be involved in the post-excavation process.

Archaeology in schools: Brixton windmill (BXM04)

Digging at Brixton windmill (© MoLAS)

Author: Sophie Jackson

In September 2004, MoLAS provided a supervisor and finds specialists to help with Lesley Smith’s ‘Discovering archaeology’ project at Brixton windmill. This educational project introduced four Lambeth primary schools to archaeology in general and Brixton windmill in particular. The wider aims of the project were: to raise awareness within the local community of the history of the windmill, and of its importance to local heritage; to raise the profile of the Friends of Windmill Gardens campaign to restore the windmill, build an education centre and develop the Windmill Gardens site; to increase the local community’s sense of ownership of their archaeology/heritage; and to raise awareness of the process and methodology of archaeological investigation.

Brixton windmill was built in 1816 and was leased in 1817 by John Ashby. John, his sons and grandson were millers producing stone-ground wholemeal flour. The Ashby family operated the mill – which became known as ‘Ashby's Mill’ – for the whole of its working life. The mill is owned today by Lambeth Borough Council. At present, besides grassed open space and trees, Windmill Gardens has a children's playground and a One O'Clock Club.

Student placements at St Paul’s (SCP04)

Part of the pre-Wren cathedral cloister wall (© MoLAS)

Author: Nick Bateman

Between September and October MoLAS carried out a five-week evaluation at St Paul's Cathedral. A team comprising three professional archaeologists was led by Senior Archaeologist Robin Wroe-Brown. Because of the nature of the site, which was not subject to the usual hazards of City development with machinery and/or other contractors, the opportunity was taken to involve several volunteers in the excavation and recording process as part of a training exercise. Archaeology students from University College London and Cambridge University participated — many thanks therefore to Tamsyn Challenger, Nicole Taylor and Guy Thompson.

Access paths and gardens on the south side of the cathedral are to be re-landscaped in the near future, and the remains of the medieval chapter house and cloister which survive c 1m beneath current street and garden levels were uncovered for detailed survey, recording and photography, prior to decisions on the precise nature of future work. Remains included two of the massive central piers, parts of both the internal and external cloister walls, and quite a large stretch of the paved floor of the cloister. This was the first sizeable part of the pre-Wren cathedral to see the light of day for nearly 150 years.

The re-landscaped gardens will eventually incorporate the layout of the medieval remains, although it is likely that all surviving masonry will be reburied to avoid complications with long-term conservation in the open air.

Prittlewell Saxon burial — live conservation events

Conserving the Prittlewell cauldron (© MoLAS)

Author: Liz Barham

Within two months of the end of the excavation of the Prittlewell burial chamber, the first objects to be conserved were put on temporary display to the public, briefly at the Museum of London and then for a longer period at Southend Central Museum. Over the two half-term school-holiday weekends during this display, Museum of London Specialist Services conservators set up equipment and objects in the galleries at both museums, to show visitors some of the finds in the process of conservation, to answer questions about the burial and to explain the work being undertaken to investigate and stabilise them. Other members of the archaeological project team also gave slide presentations and joined the conservators to discuss the site and the finds with the public. The events were immensely popular, and each weekend thousands of visitors of all ages and interests queued to see the finds and speak to those involved in the project.

During the conservation work programme, Specialist Services conservators also hosted numerous special viewings and tours of the archaeological conservation laboratories to view the unconserved finds: for Southend Museum staff and Borough Councillors; for Saxon finds specialists, archaeological conservators, English Heritage Archaeological Advisers, Museum of London staff and volunteers; and for special-interest groups and societies.

National Archaeology Days

Children cleaning finds from excavations (© MoLAS)

Author: Nick Bateman

This year’s National Archaeology Days 2004 were on the weekend of 17–18 July. Well-attended events were held at the Museum of London and the Museum in Docklands, and at Mortimer Wheeler House, home of the Archaeology Service (MoLAS) and Specialist Services, and of the London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre (LAARC).

Events at all three venues — with Museum of London, LAARC, MoLAS and Specialist Services staff in attendance — included

• another outing for 'The Dig!' – working alongside real archaeologists, children excavated real objects from a simulated archaeological environment
• a 'Meet the experts' session in which members of the public met and talked to animal bone and pottery experts to find out more about what they do
• 'On guard!' — in which members of the Ermine Street Guard brought the Roman fort gate to life
• 'Tooling up' – in which ancient woodworking expert Damian Goodburn, as seen on Channel 4’s ‘Time Team’, recreated ancient wooden artefacts using original techniques and tools
• 'Window into the past' – in which MoLAS archaeologist Andrew Westman gave a family workshop on the stories that buildings can tell us

There were also accompanied visits to Billingsgate Roman bathhouse and the Roman amphitheatre beneath the Guildhall.

Prittlewell exhibitions (PR03)

Children view the Prittlewell glass jars at the temporary exhibition (© MoLAS)

Clients: Southend-on-Sea Borough Council

Author: Dave Lakin

The excavation of a spectacular Saxon royal burial in Southend was carried out by MoLAS late in 2003 under conditions of strict secrecy but finally announced to the public at a news conference held at the Museum of London early in February 2004. An exhibition featuring 11 of the objects from the grave was opened at the Museum on 5 February and ran for two weeks during which time over 11,000 visitors viewed the finds. The exhibition subsequently transferred to Southend Central Museum and ran for a further month attracting another 20,000 + visitors.

Live conservation events were laid on at both venues and proved immensely popular.

Although the range of objects on display in February and March represented a small selection from the 100 or more items buried with the 'king', the process of stabilisation conservation gradually increased the number of objects which were displayable and in July it was possible (with the kind permission of Southend-on-Sea Borough Council) to present an expanded exhibition at the Museum in Docklands (see below**).

As the process of conserving and studying the finds continues, new discoveries are posted on the MoLAS web site – most recently details of the conservation of the lyre (LINK to this). In addition a booklet (LINK to site) about the discovery has also been produced.

Interest has been both worldwide and constant since the announcement of the discovery; there were, for instance, visitors from the USA who travelled especially to Southend to view the exhibition during its 'run' there.

*Finds shown at first display: gold buckle, crosses and coins, Coptic bowl, bronze flagon, and shoe buckles, 4 x glass vessels.

** Finds shown at 2nd exhibition as above but also ‘standard’, tub with scythe, drinking horn mount

Staff 2004: Archaeology Service

Managing director

Taryn Nixon BA, MIFA, FSA

General manager

Laura Schaaf BA, MA, MIFA, FSA

Senior project managers

Nick Bateman BA, MIFA, FSA
Sophie Jackson BA, MA
Peter Rowsome BA
Derek Seeley BA, MA, MIFA
Roy Stephenson HND, AIFA

Project managers

Julian Ayre BA
George Dennis BSc, MIFA, CPA
Stewart Hoad BA, MIFA
Elizabeth Howe BA
Richard Malt BSc
Robin Nielsen MA, AIFA
Fiona Seeley BA, MA
Christopher Thomas HND, FSA

Acting project managers

James Drummond Murray BA, MIFA, PGDip, FSA(Scot)
Jo Lyon BA

Publication project manager

Tracy Wellman BA

Post-excavation programme manager

Gordon Malcolm BA, AIFA

Assistant post-excavation programme manager

Jane Liddle BSc, MSc
Charlotte Thompson BA, MA

Fieldwork programme manager

Ian Grainger BA

Managing editor

Sue Hirst MPhil, MIFA, FSA
Susan M Wright BA, PhD, MIFA, FSA

Geomatics staff

Principal geomatics officer

Sarah Jones BA, MA

Senior geomatics officers

Jonathan Godfrey BA
David Mackie BA
Joe Severn BA
Anthony Sibthorpe BA

Geomatics officer

Cordelia Hall BA, MSc

Graphics staff

Senior digital illustrators

Jane Dunn BA, MA
Lesie Perkins-McKewan MSc

Senior designer/illustrators

Susan Banks BA, CPA
Peter Hart-Allison
Helen Jones BA
Sophie Lamb BA, MA
Faith Vardy BSc

Finds illustrators

Gabby Rapson BA
Sandra Rowntree BA

Designer/illustrator

Ken Lymer BA, MA

Photographic staff

Head of photography

Andy Chopping BA

Senior photographers

Maggie Cox BA, MA

Geoarchaeology staff

Principal geoarchaeologist

Jane Corcoran BSc, MSc

Senior geoarchaeologist

Graham Spurr BSc, MSc

Assistant geoarchaeologist

William Mills BA, MA, MSc

Field staff

Senior archaeologists

Ros Aitken BA
Kevin Appleton
Portia Askew BA
Ian Blair
David Bowsher BA, MA
Julian Bowsher BA, MIFA
Raoul Bull BA, MSc
Mark Burch
Emily Burton BA
Lindy Casson BA
Jonathon Chandler PGDip
Carrie Cowan BA, MIFA
Robert Cowie BA, MPhil, MIFA
Andrew Daykin BA
Simon Davis
Catherine Drew BA, PIFA
Lesley Dunwoodie BA
Elaine Eastbury BSc
Nick Elsden BSc
Anthony Francis BSc
Charles Harward BA
Julian Hill BA, MA
Nick Holder BA, MA, AIFA
Isca Howell BSc, MSc, PIFA
David Jamieson BSc, MSc, PIFA
Heather Knight
Tony Mackinder BA
Malcolm McKenzie BA
Adrian Miles BSc
Patricia Miller BA, MIFA
Ken Pitt
David Sankey BA
David Saxby AIFA
Daniel Swift BA
Jeremy Taylor AIFA
Alison Telfer BA
Paul Thrale
Kieron Tyler BA
Bruce Watson BA, MPhil, MIFA, FSA
Sadie Watson BSc, MA, AIFA
Andrew Westman BA, MA, PGCE
Robin Wroe-Brown BA

Archaeologists

Ryszard Bartkowiak
Howard Burkhill BA
Peter Cardiff
Neville Constantine
Gary Evans BA
Valerie Griggs BA
David Harris
Richard Hewett
Mark Ingram
William Johnston BA
Simon Stevens BA
Mark Wiggins BA

Conservators

Elizabeth Barham BA, MA
Elizabeth Goodman BSc

Finds staff

Finds manager

Penny MacConnoran

Building materials specialists

Ian Betts BA, PhD
Terence Paul Smith BA, MA, MLit

Roman pottery specialists

Rupert Featherby MA
Beth Richardson BA, AMA
Robin P Symonds BA, DPhil
Charlotte Thompson BA, MA

Post-roman pottery specialists

Lyn Blackmore BA, FSA
Nigel Jeffries BA, MA
Jacqui Pearce BA, FSA
Lucy Whittingham BA, FSA

Accessioned finds specialists

Geoff Egan BA, PhD, FSA
Jackie Keily BA
Angela Wardle BA, PhD, FSA

Ancient timber specialist

Damian Goodburn BA, AIFA

Finds processors

Tony Grey BA, MA
Graham Kenlin

Environmental staff

Faunal remains specialists

Jane Liddle BSc, MSc
Alan Pipe BSc, MSc, FLS, CIBiol
Kevin Rielly BSc

Palaeobotany specialists

Anne Davis BSc, PGCE, Cert Arch
John Giorgi BA, MSc, Cert Arch
Katherine Roberts BA

Human osteology specialists

Brian Connell HND, MSc
Amy Gray Jones BSc, MSc, PIFA
Natasha Powers BSc, MSc
Rebecca Redfern BA, MSc
Donald Walker BA, MSc

Environmental processors

Craig Halsey BSc

Archive staff

Archivist

Nathalie Cohen BA

Acting archivist

Emily Burton BA

Archive assistants

Su Lever BA
Vincent Gardiner BSc, MSc

Administration staff

Management Accountant

Tony Keane

Finance Staff

Julie Corpuz
Gary Warr

Van Driver/Equipment Officer

Harry Matthews

Archaeological project assistants

Anna Heywood BA
Kirsten Collins BA

Receptionist

Carol Thompson

Group Administration staff

Group human resources

Nicola Blair

Group IST development manager

Peter Rauxloh BA, MSc, PhD, MIFA

Group IST officers

Prasun Amin BSc
Richard May BA, MCSE
Jeremy Ottevanger BSc, MSc, MA
Mia Ridge Grad Dip (Software Engineering)

Staff 2004: Board of Governors of the Museum of London

Mr Rupert Hambro (Chairman)
Mr Adam Afriyie
Mr Kenneth Ayers
Dr Alan Clinton
Mr Robert Dufton
Mr Greg Hutchings
Mr Tom Jackson LLB
Mrs Lesley Knox
Ms Diane Henry Lepart
Mr Julian Malins QC
Mr Anthony Moss
Mrs Barbara P Newman CBE
Dr Mark Patton
Mr Patrick Roney CBE
Mr Ajab Singh
Mr Neville Walton
Ms Pippa Wicks
Mr Geoffrey Wilson OBE

Archaeology Committee of the Board of Governors

Mr Greg Hutchings (Chair)
Mr Adam Afriyie
Mrs Lesley Knox
Ms Diane Henry Lepart
Mr Geoffrey Wilson OBE

Clients 2004

A J Browne & Co
Abatech International Ltd
Aberlow Properties Ltd
Accor UK Ltd
Acuity Management Solutions Ltd
Archaeology Data Services Ltd
Aitch Group
Alan Baxter & Associates
Allies and Morrison
AOC Archaeology Group
Amberswift Ltd
Andrews Sherlock & Partners
Anne Upson
Antler Property C I Ltd
Apex Hotels Limited
Archaeological Development Services
Archives, Libraries and Museums London
Arlington Business Parks Group Ltd
Arlington Development Management Ltd
Artinville Ltd
Ascot Racecourse Ltd
Association of British Insurers
Asticus (UK) Ltd
Astral Developments
Babtie Brown & Root
Ballymore Properties Ltd
Bank of England
Barts and the London NHS Trust
Baynham Meikle Partnership
Bevis Marks Synagogue Trust
The Board of Administration, States of Guernsey
Berkeley Homes (South East London) Ltd
Berkeley Homes (City and East London) Ltd
Berkeley Homes (North East London) Ltd
Birkbeck College
Biscoe & Stanton Architects
Bournemouth University
Bovis Lend Lease Ltd
Boxmoor Homes Ltd
Britel Fund Trustees Ltd
British Broadcasting Corporation
Broadlands Chartered Surveyors & Town Planners
Building Better Health Ltd
Building Design Partnership
Buro Four Project Services
Buxton Homes
Cabinet Office
Capita Symonds
Capital & Counties Properties 2021 Ltd
Castlemore
Catal Huyuk Research Project
Centre for Conservation and Education, Woburn Safari Park
CgMs Consulting
Chelsfield Property Investments Ltd
Chequers Centre
Cheval Group
Cheney Thorpe & Morrison
Chichester Harbour Conservancy
Christ Church Spitalfields Restoration Trust
Circle Developments Ltd
City and West End
City Literary Institute
City of London Archaeological Trust
Clare Walker
Coal Pension Properties Ltd
COLAT
Commercial Estates Group Ltd
Compass Archaeology
Copthorn Homes
Corinium Estates
Corporation of London
Countryside in Partnership plc
Countryside Properties
Covent Garden Market Ltd Partnership
Cranfield University
Crest Nicholson (South East) Ltd
Crofton Place
Cross London Rail Links Ltd
Croudace Housing in Partnership
The Crown Estates
DFES
DIFA
DTZ Pieda Consulting
Datchet Village Society
Dean and Chapter of St Paul’s Cathedral
Dennison Drain Architects
Derwent Valley London Ltd
Deutsche Property Asset Management Ltd
Deveraux Architects Ltd
Devington Homes
Directorate of Health & Social Care (South)
Discovering Archaeology
Dogs Trust
DP9
EDF Energy Ltd
Enfield Archaeological Society
English Ceramic Circle
English Heritage
English Partnerships
Environment Agency
EPR Architects Ltd
Epsom College
Eric Parry Associates
Equity Estates Ltd
Essex County Council Field Unit
Essex Gardens Trust
Event Planners
Family Housing Association
Farmiloe & Farmiloe
Feilden and Mawson
Feilden Clegg Bradley Architects
First Base
First Stop Hotels
Fletcher Priest Architects
Foggo Associates
Foster and Partners
Friends of Nonsuch Mansion
Furtho Farm Ltd
Gardiner & Theobald
Gifford & Partners
Gill Andrews
Glenmere plc
Goldcrest Homes plc
The Governors & Trustees of St Marylebone School
The Greenwich Foundation
Grenadier Properties plc
Great Portland Estates
Gross Max
Grosvenor Ltd
Guildford Museum
Guildford & Waverley Primary Care Trust
GVA Grimley
Halcrow Group
Halliburton KBR
Hammersmith Embankment Ltd
Hammerson UK Properties Plc
Hertford Lodge Developments
Hexagon Housing Association
Higgins Construction plc
Highways Agency
Hines UK Ltd
C Hoare & Co
The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn
Horizon Housing Group
Horsley Huber & Associates
Household Cavalry Museum
Hutley (Egham) Ltd
Hyder Consulting Ltd
Imperial College
Institute of Archaeology (UCL)
Institute of Field Archaeologists
Investec Property Ltd
Islington History & Archaeology Society
John Moore Heritage Services
Jones Lang LaSalle
Kemsley Fields Ltd
Kent County Council
Kier Property
King’s College London
Kitewood estates
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
Laing O’Rourke plc
Land Securities plc
Landstone Ltd
LDA Design
Leaside Regeneration Ltd
Legal & General
Lindsey Archaeological Services
Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society Ltd
London Borough of Bexley
London Borough of Camden
London Borough of Enfield
London Borough of Hackney
London Borough of Islington
London Borough of Lambeth
London Bridge Development Ltd
London Development Agency
London Nautical School
Lovell Partnerships Ltd
L-P Archaeology
M3 Consulting
Martin Deane
McCabe Builders (UK) Ltd
The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research
McNicholas Construction Services Ltd
Maidstone Museum
Margaret Gowen and Co Ltd
Mayo County Council
Medieval Pottery Research Group
Memorial to Women of World War 2 Fund
MEPC UK Ltd
Mercer & Miller
Merrill Lynch Europe Plc
Meritcape Ltd
Metis (UK) Ltd
Metropoloitan Police Service
Minerva Plc
Minerva Property Services Ltd
M K Building Contractors (UK) Ltd
Moseley & Webb
Mount Anvil
Mowlem plc Major & Special Projects
The National Gallery
The National Maritime Museum of London
National Museums on Merseyside
Nene Valley Archaeological Trust
Newham Heritage Services
Norfolk Archaeological Unit
Northampton Archaeology
Northampton County Council
Notre Dame RC Girls’ School
Oakmayne Properties Ltd
Octagon Developments Ltd
Okay Ltd
Oxford Archaeology
Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture
P R Firman Ltd
Parkes Ltd Liability Partnership
Parliamentary Works Directorate
Pell Frischman Consulting Engineers
Pillar Property
Pillar (Nugent) Ltd
PKS Architects
Plowman Craven & Associates
PMB Holdings Ltd
Pollocks Toy Museum
Pre-Construct Archaeology
Prologis Developments Ltd
Proun Architects Ltd
The Prudential Assurance Company
Prudential Property Investment Management Ltd
Prupim Ltd
Purcell Miller Tritton & Partners
P W Teynolds Ltd
Quad Projects
Radio Telefis Eireann
Rail Link Engineering
Ramac Holdings Ltd
Ramheath Properties Ltd
Rapleys
Regime Developments Ltd
Renoufs Ltd
Ridgewood Investments Ltd
Roger Black Developments Ltd
The Royal Bank of Scotland
Royal Holloway College
Royal Household Property Section
Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital
RTKL-UK
The Salvation Army
Scottish Widows Plc
Sealhurst Properties
Second Site Property
Service Départemental d'Archéologie du Calvados
Sheppard Robson
Shone Building Ltd
Shurgard
Sidell Gibson Partnership
Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd
Skanska Construction UK Ltd
Skanska Whitehall
Society of Museum Archaeologists
Sol Melia
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council
Spitalfields Development Group
Square Foot Properties
Squire & Partners
St Andrew’s Church Foundation
St Dunstan’s Stepney Parochial Church Council
St George’s Church, Hanworth
St Martin-in-the-Fields
St Modwen Developments Ltd
St Mungo Housing Association
Standard Life
Stanhope Plc
Store Property Investments Ltd
Strategic Rail Authority
Suffolk County Council
Sunrise Assisted Living
Surrey County Archaeological Unit
Sutton Archaeological Services
Symonds Group Ltd
Tamagon Ltd
Taylor Woodrow Plc
Telereal
Thames 21
Thames Estuary Partnership
Thames Valley Archaeological Services
Thames Water (Utilities) Ltd
The British Land Company
The Theatre Royal
Thornfield Properties Plc
Tilfen Land Ltd
Tonbridge Stock & Cattle Market Company
Torbay Council
Transport for London
Treahearne Architects
Trench Farrow Trust for Thanet Archaeology
Trustees of the Borough Market
Trustees of Jamme Masjid Ltd
Unilever UK Central Resources Ltd
University College Cork
University of Bristol
University College London Hospital
University of York
University of Surrey
University of Texas
Vision Homes Ltd
Wandle Housing Association
Wandsworth Borough Council
Ward Homes
Wates Construction Ltd
Wates Home Ltd
Wessex Archaeology
Westminster City Council
Whitbread Plc
William Verry Ltd
Young and Co’s Brewery Ltd

Publications 2004

Barham, Liz, Blackmore, Lyn, and Blair, Ian, 2004 My Lord Essex, British Archaeology 76 (May), 10–17

Barham, Liz, with Evershed, R P, Berstan, R, Grew, F, Copley, M S, Charmant, A J H, Mottram, H R, and Brown, G, 2004 Formulation of a Roman cosmetic, Nature 432 (4 November 2004), 35–6

Bateman, Nick, 2004 From rags to riches; the wool cloth trade and Blackwell Hall, c 1450–1790: a brief survey, Post-Medieval Archaeology 38(1), 1–15

Blair, I, Hillaby, J, Howell, I, Sermon, R, and Watson, B, 2004 The Milk Street mikveh, Current Archaeology 190, 456–61

Cohen, Nathalie, with Hines, John, and Roffey, Simon, 2004 Iohannes Gower, Armiger, Poeta: records and memorials of his life and death, in A companion to Gower (ed Sian Echard), Woodbridge

Cowie, Robert, and Spurr, Graham, 2004 Riparian Barnes revisited, London Archaeologist 10(9), 227–9

Drummond-Murray, James, 2004 Jobs in British archaeology 2003, The Archaeologist 51, 32–3

Ganiaris, Helen, and Bateman, Nick, 2004 From arena to art gallery: the preservation of London's Roman amphitheatre in situ, in Preserving archaeological remains in situ? Proceedings of the 2nd conference 12–14 September 2001 (ed Taryn Nixon), 198–201, London

Harward, Chiz, 2003 Saxo-Norman occupation at Beckenham, Kent, London Archaeologist 10(7), 171–8

Hirst, Sue, Nixon, Taryn, and Rowsome, Peter, 2004 The Prittlewell prince: the discovery of a rich Anglo-Saxon burial in Essex, London

Howe, Elizabeth, and Lakin, David, 2004 Roman and medieval Cripplegate, City of London: archaeological excavations 1992–8, Museum of London Archaeology Service Monograph Series 21, London

Knight, Heather, and Jeffries, Nigel, 2004 Medieval and later urban development at High Street, Uxbridge: excavations at the Chimes Shopping Centre, London Borough of Hillingdon, Museum of London Archaeology Service Archaeology Studies Series 12, London

Lyon, Jo, 2003 New evidence for early Roman road alignments and medieval activity south of Cripplegate: excavations at 1 and 2–4 Carey Lane and 11–12 Foster Lane, London Archaeologist 10(7), 187–94

Nixon, Taryn (ed), 2004 Preserving archaeological remains in situ? Proceedings of the 2nd conference 12–14 September 2001, London

Pitt, Ken, and Goodburn, Damian, with Stephenson, Roy, and Ellmers, Chris, 2003 18th- and 19th-century shipyards at the south-east entrance to the West India Docks, London, The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 32(2), 191–209

Rielly, Kevin, 2004 The animal bones, in Pine, J, and Preston, S, Iron Age and Roman settlement and landscape at Totterdown Lane, Horcott near Fairford, Gloucestershire, Thames Valley Archaeological Services Monograph 6, 76–81, Reading

Sankey, David, 2003 Roman, medieval and later development at 7 Bishopsgate, London EC2: from a 1st-century cellared building to the 17th-century properties of the Merchant Taylors’ Company, Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society 53, 1–24

Sloane, Barney, and Malcolm, Gordon, 2004 Excavations at the priory of the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, Clerkenwell, London, Museum of London Archaeology Service Monograph Series 20, London

Smith, Terence Paul, 2004 The late medieval bricks and brickwork of London Wall in Saint Alphage Garden, EC2, London Archaeologist 10(10), 255–63

Sygrave, Jon, 2004 From medieval malt house to 20th-century pub: excavations at 9–11 Poplar High Street, London E14, London Archaeologist 10(8), 215–22

Taylor, Jeremy, 2004 Middle Saxon remains at Covent Garden, London Archaeologist 10(8), 199–203

Thomas, Chris, 2004 Life and death in London's East End: 2000 years at Spitalfields, London

Tyler, Kieron, 2003 Changing the landscape: excavations at Blackfriar’s Court, Ludgate Broadway, London EC4, Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society 53, 25–51

Watson, Bruce, 2004 Digging up a post-medieval English prison: resolving the conflict between documents and archaeology, in Digging in the dirt: excavation in a new millennium (ed Geoff Carver), British Archaeological Reports International Series 1256, 79–85, Oxford

Watson, Bruce, 2004 From mud to monograph, in Digging in the dirt: excavation in a new millennium (ed Geoff Carver), British Archaeological Reports International Series 1256, 73–8, Oxford

Watson, Bruce, 2004 Old London bridge lost and found, London

Watson, Sadie, 2004 Roman and medieval occupation at 8–10 Old Jewry, City of London, London Archaeologist 10(10), 264–70

White, Bill, with Hull, G, Blinkhorn, P, Cannon, P, Hamilton-Dyer, S, and Salter, C, 2003 The excavation and analysis of an 18th-century deposit of anatomical remains and chemical apparatus from the rear of the first Ashmolean Museum (now the Museum of the History of Science), Broad Street, Oxford, Post-Medieval Archaeology 37(1), 1–28

White, Bill, 2003 The debate: whose bones?, Ricardian Bulletin (winter), 19–24

White, W, with Thomas, M, Gilbert, P, Cuccui, J, Lynnerup, N, Titball, R W, Cooper, A, and Prentice, M B, 2004 Absence of Yersinia pestis-specific DNA in human teeth from five European excavations of putative plague victims, Microbiology 150, 341–54

White, W, with Thomas, M, Gilbert, P, Cuccui, J, Lynnerup, N, Titball, R W, Cooper, A, and Prentice, M B, 2004 Molecular detection of Yersinia pestis in dental pulp: response to Drancourt and Raoult, Microbiology 150, 264–5

White, W, 2004 Review of The archaeology of medieval London by Christopher Thomas, The Ricardian 14, 163–5

White, Bill, 2004 Contentious bones, New Scientist 181 no. 2436 (28 February 2004), 30

Capability statements

Desk-based assessment and field evaluation

Consultancy advice

Environmental archaeology

Historic building recording and interpretation

Excavation

Finds management from processing to research

Geoarchaeology

Geomatics and survey

Dealing with archaeology: consultancy advice and the design and management of projects

Conservation

Research and publication

Visualisation: photography, graphics, design and production

Credits

Compiled and edited by Nick Bateman, Sue Hirst and Susan M Wright

Images by Andy Chopping and Maggie Cox unless otherwise credited

Digital imaging by Andy Chopping

Website created by Jeremy Ottevanger

MoLAS, December 2004. All rights reserved