MoLAS-PCA and the 2012 Games

This report published by MoLAS [link to http://www.molas.org.uk/] and Pre-Contruct Archaeology [link to http://www.pre-construct.com/]

First publication: February 2006

Background

On July 6th 2005 the International Olympic Committee announced that London was to be the setting for the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. This exciting news had implications for all Londoners over the next few years, but it had specific implications for the archaeology and built heritage of the Lea Valley.

The Thames and Lea valleys

The east of London is being transformed as London prepares for the 2012 Games. The boroughs of Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest and Newham will see huge amounts of private and public investment. Derelict land and ‘brownfield’ sites will be used to build a new Olympic Park including venues and the athletes Village, playing fields, new housing and transport infrastructure, and new parkland and waterways.

The impacts of these projects on existing archaeological monuments or deposits, historic buildings, or London’s industrial heritage, has been fully weighed as part of the normal planning process, and appropriate field evaluation and/or ‘mitigation’ is now taking place, whether that means incorporation of significant remains or buildings into the new designs, or excavation, recording and ‘preservation by record’.

From September 2003 the two biggest archaeological organisations working in London, MoLAS (the Museum of London Archaeology Service) and PCA (pre-Construct Archaeology) joined forces to work together on the redevelopment plans for the Lea Valley for London’s bid. In 2004 we produced the Archaeological and Built Heritage chapters of the Environmental Statement (ES) which was commissioned to support the planning applications by the London Development Agency (LDA) for the London 2012 bid. The overall (ES) was coordinated and produced by Capita Symonds. The Planning Applications and supporting information - including the ES - were submitted to the four Lower Lea Valley London Boroughs (LBs) in January 2004 and outline Planning Consent was granted on 14th October 2004. MoLAS-PCA contributed again to the revised Planning Application in 2006.

During 2006 and 2007 MoLAS-PCA with Capita Symonds have commenced, on behalf of the Olympic Delivery Authority, an extensive programme of field evaluation for below ground archaeology, at the same time as conducting recording of a large number of standing buildings and other structures prior to demolition. At the end of 2007 more than 50 of a total of c 150 large evaluation trenches have been excavated. A number of these have lead to further mitigation (excavation or more extensive sampling) being required. Reports on these exercises can be found under ‘Sites’ below.

London 2012 proposals

The principal proposals for the Lea Valley Olympics Precinct include:

• The Main Stadium and other key venues including the Aquatics Centre, the Velodrome, Hockey, and three Indoor Arenas
• The Main Press Centre and International Broadcast Centre
• Olympic Village and ancillary facilities
• Major infrastructure and services, including a Combined Cooling, Heat and Power Plant (CCHP)
• Bridges, land bridges and underpasses
• Landscaping and park creation
• Improvements to the existing waterways

The construction of all of these is likely to have some kind of impact on the existing archaeological and built heritage resource in the Lea Valley. As established in the Planning Consent the effects will be mitigated by an agreed process which ranges from retention in situ (where possible), through to recording and excavation.

Archaeology in the Lea Valley

The Lower Lea Valley has been more or less continuously occupied since the end of the last Ice Age c 12,000 years ago. Traces of human activity from all periods have been found in the ground: from Neolithic farms to Roman roads, from Saxon fish ponds to medieval monasteries. For this reason most of the Lower Lea Valley is a designated Archaeological Priority Area. In addition the boroughs contain many historic structures, Listed Buildings, and Conservation Areas - with a particular wealth of standing remains from London’s Industrial heritage: factories, warehouses, gasworks, railways, canals, bridges, etc.

Taking samples from alluvial silts

Prehistoric archaeology, in particular, is likely to be found within the ‘natural’ Quaternary stratigraphy or alluvium - the natural silt deposits, several metres thick, in ancient stream beds of the Lea Valley. Thus there is neither a straightforward ‘level of natural’, which can be used as a lower cut-off level for archaeological potential, or a ‘depth of archaeological deposit’ that can be used when (historic period) archaeological deposits and features merely sit above, or are cut into, the ‘natural strata’.

Today, the stretch of the Lea Valley which has received planning consent for redevelopment as an Olympic Park is a particularly urban landscape, the result of centuries of use and change, comprising a complex network of canals and canalized rivers, roads and railways, interspersed with former industrial sites, derelict land, warehouses, and light industry.

Prehistoric archaeology

The origins of the river Lea

The Thames in prehistory

The River Lea adopted its present course about half a million years ago (during the so-called ‘Anglian’ cold stage of the Ice Ages). Prior to this it had flowed northwards as part of the Mole-Wey-Wandle River, draining into the proto-Thames, which itself followed a more northerly course through the Vale of St Albans. Around half a million years ago ice sheets blocked the valley of the Thames and its tributaries, reversing the drainage pattern. For a brief interval the Thames itself appears to have been diverted via the Lower Lea Valley into the Medway system, before adopting its present course.

Since the Anglian cold stage successive cold and warm climatic oscillations have caused alternating downcutting and aggradational cycles of the river to take place. Together with a background gradual tectonic uplift, this has led to a sequence of progressively younger deposits down the valley sides . These (mainly) gravel deposits form a series of terraces, which represent former floodplains of the rivers Thames and Lea that subsequently became incised and left high and dry as the river down-cut to lower levels. These higher, drier, terraces are the likeliest places for human occupation of any sort (see figure 2).

Palaeolithic occupation sites?

The Masterplan Area lies at the confluence of the Thames and its tributary the Lea. It is still a matter of debate as to which river was responsible for depositing the gravels on the interfluves in this area. This will have a bearing on the landscape exploited by the Palaeolithic occupants of the area and is a matter of some archaeological interest. The terraces were formed during the Palaeolithic period and several are well known for Palaeolithic remains, particularly those on the higher ground above the Lea valley in the Stoke Newington area. Only remnants of the lowest terraces exist within the Masterplan Area.

The oldest/highest gravels in the area will probably be found at the north-west of Olympics Zone C, Area Cc and the south-west of Zone B, Area Ba (see Figure 2) and are likely to belong to the Taplow Terrace (on which most of the City of London was constructed). Palaeoliths are not common in these gravels and, if found, are generally much-rolled and re-worked.

In Areas Ba, Cc and the northern part of Da gravel deposits that are likely to belong to the ‘Kempton Park’ Gravels of the Thames (deposited around 150,000-70,000 years ago) exist. Although there is little evidence for human occupation in Britain during most of this period, organic remains relating to the last warm stage (the Ipswichian Interglacial, about 128,000 years ago) are sometimes found sandwiched within the Kempton Park Gravels in floodplain-edge locations. Most well known are the deposits at Trafalgar Square, which contained bones of hippopotamus, with plant remains and pollen providing information about the contemporary landscape. Similar remains could be recovered from the Masterplan Area.

It is likely that Kempton Park Gravels could be more extensive in the Lower Lea Valley than previously thought. Gravels at a similar elevation extend further into the valley and in Area Cd, Ea and Ad (Figure 2), for example, appear to contain organic and fine-grained units.

Most of the Masterplan Area, however, lies within the present floodplain of the Lea. In the extreme north, around Hackney Wick and Temple Mills (Areas Ab, Ac and north-west of Zone A), rafts of organic deposits (the Lea Valley Arctic Beds) have been found within the floodplain gravel close to the valley side. Further upstream, between Tottenham Hale and Broxbourne similar deposits form a low terrace, 1 to 2 m above the floodplain. Within the Masterplan Area, if they exist, they are likely to lie below the floodplain surface.

Environmental remains found within the Arctic Beds suggest they accumulated in arctic/ periglacial conditions, which have been radiocarbon dated to around 20,000 to 30,000 years ago, immediately prior to the Last Glacial Maximum. It is likely they represent parts of the floodplain that escaped modification during the subsequent period of thaw and minor down-cutting at the end of the last cold stage, when the gravels were deposited across the main part of the valley floor. The extent of the Arctic Beds and their relationship to the gravels across the main part of the floodplain is not yet known and would be an important target of any future palaeoenvironmental work in the area.

Mesolithic occupation sites?

The present alluvial floodplain of the Lea was created as the river down-cut as a result of the very low sea-level and large flux of meltwater at the end of the last glacial stage (about 10,000 to 15,000 years ago). It subsequently deposited coarse gravel sediments across the valley floor and these gravel deposits (the Shepperton Gravels) underlie the alluvium across the floodplain. The gravel was probably deposited in a network of braided, ephemeral channels at a time when the river had similar characteristics to those flowing in Arctic areas today. Sand and gravel bars accumulated within the river, forming an irregular, hummocky topography. Such a landscape would have existed when the earliest post-glacial Late / Early people colonised the area (The Thames and Lea valleys in 8000BC. Copyright Museum of London).

There is a chance that deposits dating to this period may survive within the Masterplan Area, especially within abandoned channels. Late Glacial deposits have previously been found in an abandoned channel at West Silvertown Urban Village, just beyond the south-east limits of Area Eb and similar deposits might be found in the channels recorded in Areas Ba and Cc, amongst others.

The surface of the Shepperton Gravel, together with any exposed bedrock and earlier gravel surfaces approximates to the landsurface at the start of the Holocene, about 10,000 years ago. At this time the Masterplan Area was likely to have been dry land, crossed by a network of watercourses.

A major tributary valley joined the Lea in the northern part of Area Ba (likely to represent a former course of the Hackney Brook) and a large depression within Area Cc may have formed a lake in this period. Deposits within and adjacent to these features are likely to have good potential for Early Mesolithic archaeology and environmental remains.

Inspection of the sections shows that the early Holocene valley floor was characterised by a network of watercourses, with more substantial channels flowing adjacent to the valley sides. Section 2 shows a network of braided channels crossing Area Ca, for example, and major floodplain edge channels are illustrated on the same cross section in Areas Ce and Cc on Section 1.

Typical Mesolithic blades

Hunting in the Mesolithic period

The fine-grained deposits recorded adjacent to the watercourses (for example in Area Cd, illustrated on Section 1 are key areas of Mesolithic potential. Mesolithic hunter-fisher-gatherers frequently appear to have made use of such locations as temporary camps, and rich Early Mesolithic assemblages have been found in similar deposits and landscape positions elsewhere.

During the Holocene (the past 10,000 years) the level of the sea has risen with respect to that of the land. The effect of this rising relative sea level (RSL) on any location within the floodplain and lower valley side was for waterlogging of previously dry landsurfaces to occur, as drainage became ponded-back. Subsequently the onset of increasingly brackish conditions (salt marsh and mudflats) took place in an upstream direction, as estuarine and marine environments migrated progressively upstream. As a result of these processes, deposits of alluvium have accumulated on the valley floor during the Holocene.

The rate of RSL rise has fluctuated and is often masked by the impact of local and other factors. Thus RSL rise has not been continuous and has at times appeared to fall, most conspicuously during the Neolithic and Roman periods. In consequence, the alluvial sequence is not generally a simple progression from dryland soils to peat to estuarine clays and silts but typically contains interbedded organic and minerogenic deposits. In Area Bc, for example, peat deposits that might represent the drying out of the marshy surface and the establishment of drier conditions exist

An approximation for the onset of wetland development across formerly dry areas upstream and away from watercourses can be gained by dating the base of peat where it overlies previously dry surfaces. A very rough indication of wetland expansion within the Masterplan Area has been prepared for this report, based on the dates of organic deposits developed above previously dry landsurfaces in areas close to but outside the area. It must be stressed, however, that dating evidence for the Masterplan Area is virtually non-existent and further dates, especially on peat at the base of the Holocene sequence, at various elevations are urgently required to refine the general deposit model discussed in this report.

The probable extent of wetland during the Mesolithic, at around 6,000BC is shown in the illustration (Extent of wetland 600BC. Copyright MoLAS-PCA). The Mesolithic wetland was probably freshwater consisting of a lightly wooded reed swamp or grass fen (at least in this period and location), but may have been brackish in the most south-easterly parts of the Masterplan Area (perhaps in Areas Eb and Db). A better understanding of its characteristics, would be obtained from the examination of environmental remains such as insects, snails, plants, pollen etc. Such information would contribute to our understanding of Mesolithic utilisation of the area and place it within the evolving landscape of the wider region; Mesolithic activity in this period is well known from peat deposits in the Rammey Marsh to Broxbourne area, further upstream in the Lea Valley. It is also known from the shores of the ‘Bermondsey Lake’ in the Thames floodplain, just upstream of the Lea/Thames confluence.

The wetland / dryland interface is likely to have been a key area targeted for Later Mesolithic resource exploitation, as here resources from different environments would be easily available. Thus in addition to the potential of areas in and around the watercourses and lakes, identified for the Early Mesolithic, during the later Mesolithic the encroaching wetland front will add a further zone of archaeological potential. An indication of the extent of this zone at about 6,000 BC can be gained by following the wetland/dryland boundary on the accompanying illustration.

Neolithic occupation sites?

Map 2

Neolithic axe from Blackwall

By the most of the Masterplan Area had probably become a wetland area. The likely extent of wetland by about 3,000BC is illustrated. This reflects the vast expanse of ‘blanket peat’, which typifies the Neolithic to mid valley floor of the Thames and presumably its tributaries (though this needs to be clarified for the Lea Valley). A mosaic of different environments would have existed within the wetland however, which are likely to have been as important in terms of landscape perception (and thus the distribution of archaeological remains) as the difference between wetland and dryland itself.

An area of higher ground appears to have existed at the mouth of the Lea Valley, in the vicinity of Area Eb This may have remained as an ’island’ of dry land throughout the Mesolithic to Bronze Age periods and could have been targeted for exploitation. Evidence for cultivation and occupation have previously been found on similar ‘islands’ in nearby areas of the Thames valley.

The margins of the higher areas and of the interface of the wetland area and the valley side are sometimes associated with timber structures, particularly trackways. Thus the areas adjacent to the higher ‘island’: the south and south-east parts of Areas Da, Db and the north-east of Ea, might have some potential for these remains. As might the fringes of the wetland areas in this period: the north-west of Area Da, the west of Ba, Ca and Cc. In the northern part of Area Ba trackways or platforms and other activity might also be associated with the mouth palaeochannel, which later became the Hackney Brook. A tributary valley also appears to enter the Masterplan Area above Areas Ad and Cb, which could have similar potential to the valley of the Hackney Brook.

In the slightly higher ground at the margins of the valley, for example at Kennard Road in Stratford (Area Cb), clays representing an accretionary floodplain soil directly overlie the ‘pre-Holocene template’. In these areas, where the pre-Holocene template is relatively high, dry land may have existed till the Neolithic. As these areas became incorporated into the expanding wetland, wet grasslands prone to seasonal flooding are likely to have developed during the later prehistoric and historic periods.

At the Lefevre Walk Estate excavation uncovered evidence from the Neolithic period: two butt-ended ditches probably formed a field boundary. Clustered around the termini of ditches was a group of pits, one of which contained pottery dated to 3000 BC.

Neolithic and Bronze Age features at Lefevre Walk

Bronze Age to Iron Age

Bronze Age trackway at the Isle of Dogs

Whilst Neolithic trackways might be expected in the lower levels of the peat (such a trackway was found at Fort Street in Silvertown, to the south-east of Local Aea Eb), structures are typically found at the interface between the peat and the overlying clay (for example at Bramcote Grove, in Bermondsey) (Land use at 2500BC).

In the Lea Valley the upper alluvial deposits are typically silty clays. These are likely to be of late Bronze Age to historic date and represent a range of environments from mudflats, to salt marsh to seasonally flooded grassland.

The Upper Lea Valley has evidence for Bronze Age / settlement in the form of crannogs; dwellings set on piles driven into marginal and wetlands. The closest of these to the Masterplan Area (Warwick Reservoir) is 6 km north west of Stratford Station. Three such settlements are known: Low Maynard Reservoir (discovered in1869), Warwick Reservoir, and Banbury Reservoir in Chingford. The 1869 discovery was associated with Bronze and Iron Age pottery.

Although no such finds are as yet known from the Masterplan Area, the possibility of similar structures having been present cannot be discounted as the Lower Lea Valley would have presented an environment favourable to such settlement during the Bronze and Iron Ages.

A possibly prehistoric ring-shaped enclosure was recorded to the south of the Lefevre Walk Estate (immediately west of Area Ba) and the excavation of a cluster of probably post-built structures and other pits to the north revealed only pre-Roman artefacts. Features including field boundaries thought to have originated in the Late Iron Age were recorded in the north and east of the same site.

Excavation at Parnell Road (slightly further west of Area Ba) produced the first in situ prehistoric remains encountered in the Bow area, comprising Bronze Age post holes and gullies. Bronze Age pottery and burnt flint were also found at Wick Lane. An Iron Age occupation site with a human inhumation and horse burial were found at Stratford Market Depot (Area Ce), buried by flood deposits.

Roman

The Lea was also likely to have been an important route in the Roman period. It may have been used to supply the London area both with agricultural produce and, in the late period, with pottery from Much Hadham, via the River Stort. Excavations have established that a Roman settlement existed in an area west of Area Ba, close to Old Ford.

Anticipated alignment of the Roman road to Colchester across the Lea Valley

A pattern of occupation has been identified from recent excavations suggesting that buildings fronted onto the Roman road which stretched from the Roman Londinium to the Roman Colonia of Camulodunum (Colchester), with a network of yards and fields laid out behind the road. The position of the settlement at a ford on the River Lea implies that the settlement had a role as an interchange point between road and river traffic. Timber buildings have been found consisting of postholes and beam slots showing that a fairly substantial roadside ribbon development existed from the 1st century AD. One building represented by a large beam-slot filled with charcoal and daub was a very large structure, possibly an open ended barn, fronting on to the road. The road was used for the transportation of food from Essex and East Anglia to Londinium. A large amount of cattle bone with evidence of butchering, as well as many coins found, suggest that Old Ford might well have been primarily a market, with the trading of cattle, as well as slaughtering, for sale in Londinium.

An extensive agricultural landscape skirted the Roman road; represented by a complex series of ditches, which were dug as field boundaries. Finds of pottery, coins and metalwork from the ditch fills indicate their use up to the 4th century.

A Roman cemetery has been found related to the settlement at Old Ford. A group of four inhumation burials were found situated 50 m north of the road and could be a small family burial plot. A scatter of other such burials has been found in the past including two stone sarcophagi. One sarcophagus contained two inhumations. A communal burial ground was also excavated containing sixty seven graves. The acidic soil limited bone survival and no grave goods were found.

Saxon

The Saxon log boat from Clapton

Several place names in the Lea Valley have Saxon origins. Hackney itself derives from Saxon words, which refer to the well-watered meadows by the River Lea marshes (Clapton means the ‘farm on the hill’; and Leyton also has its origins in Saxon words meaning ‘settlement on the Lea’).

Evidence for local Saxon settlement was found at Old Ford. Saxon pottery at Stratford Market Depot and a revetment at Gibbins Yard suggest that this period saw use of both the area and the river. ‘Hamme’ is first mentioned in 958 AD when King Edgar granted land to an Ealdorman Athelstan of East Anglia. (At this time references to Ham do not distinguish between West and East Ham.) The Domesday evidence suggests that the main settlement was in the south, and that the northern part of the parish was thickly wooded. Further, it is likely that the Roman crossing at Old Ford and the course of the Roman road/causeway across the marshes and valley remained in use during much of the Saxon period. Excavations at Lefevre Walk Estate have identified Late Saxon / early Medieval buildings fronting Old Ford Road.

The old Lea, flowing south through Stratford, branched into several channels, collectively called the Stratford Back rivers. Although the pattern of channel has been associated with King Alfred, who in 895 AD apparently obstructed the river to strand the Danish fleet, the evidence is inconclusive. The pattern does however, seem to go back to at least the 11th century.

Medieval

The medieval period is well represented in the Lea Valley. The medieval Cistercian Abbey of Stratford Langthorne was built on the Stratford marshes in 1135. The site possessed several advantages of location: it was close to the major resources of the nearby marsh and rivers; it was close to the capital and it controlled a major road to London and its associated river crossings including the Lea. The Cistercian Order was renowned for its feats of engineering, particularly of water channels and the exploitation of water power so the presence of the braided Lea tributaries was exploited from an early phase: the name of the Abbey Mills tells its own story. Evidence for the management and control of the drainage across the area is likely as the floodplain within the estate lands was likely to have been used for pasture and cultivation, not least due to its fertile soils, if regular seasonal flooding occurred. Thus revetments, drainage channels and bridge piers are likely to be encountered. Industry was a significant part of the abbey’s income, based on the abbey’s possession of several water-mills on the rivers. The abbot of Stratford was charged with the repair of bridges including one over the Lea at Bow Bridge.

The stone foundations of the abbey church and part of the cloister buildings were excavated. Work involved the north transept, north aisle and part of the nave of the church as well as 647 human inhumations, which were discovered within the church and graveyard from around the abbey. Three burials were found with a pewter chalice indicative of priests. The abbey was formally surrendered to the Crown in 1538 at the Dissolution instigated by Henry VIII.

Medieval settlement evidence has been proven at Lefevre Walk Estate Phase 2 (PNL 98) and Lefevre Walk Estate Phase 3 (LFW 01) where the excavations bounded the Medieval Old Ford Road. Post-Medieval cartographic evidence suggests that further medieval buildings may be located further along the course of Old Ford Road and Wick Lane. One of these may be Gissing Place, a large house with out buildings and gardens located on the north side of Wick Lane and shown on John Jennings' plan of 1665 of Christ’s Hospital lands.

Modern

The use of the waterways as a raw material for industry, a means of transport and as a source of power for the operation of mills remained a major theme in the area’s later development.

Three early mill complexes, Temple Mills at the north end of the area, Three Mills (which became the focus of gin distilling from the 18th century) and Abbey Mills, to the north east of Three Mills, survived into the 20th century.

Three Mills area

The calico colouring and printing industry that thrived in Bromley-by Bow and in the area to the south of Hackney Wick was also dependent on the waterways. The earliest scarlet dye works in the area was recorded in 1607 and a scarlet dye house (or Bow dye as it was called) was located on Wick Lane in 1703 (Gascoigne’s map, 1703). This industry flourished in the area with many dye works, the southernmost calico printing and dyeing works being around Bromley Hall, to the south of the Limehouse Cut. The sole survivor of this industry is the London and Provincial Dye works on Hepscott Road (Area Ba).

Another important industry was the Bow Porcelain works, on High Street E15 and built in 1749 (E Jones, 1985, 22).

The development of the docks radically changed the area’s historic development and morphology. Their presence provided a massive boost to the industry of the Lower Lea Valley and made the area a focus of world trade. The East India Company, a huge monopoly founded in 1700, had its main shipyard and docks at Blackwall, expanded to the east in 1789, at Brunswick Dock, and further east nearer Bow Creek in 1803, with East India Docks. There were also dry docks, two of which partly survive on the Thames. From 1855 the Victoria Dock Company acted as a major hub of coastal and international trade. Bow Creek had become a major centre for the importation of coal. By 1875 1.5 million of the 2.75 million tons of coal imported into London was unloaded locally. This ready supply of cheap coal massively encouraged power generation and other industries, which diversified. C J Mare & Co started shipbuilding at the southern end of the area in 1846. Their company grew into the Thames Iron Works, located south west of Victoria Dock Road, on the banks of the Lea, which produced the first ironclad battleship in 1860 and continued shipbuilding until 1912.

Once the importance of water generated power declined the area remained a centre of power production, with historically important gas works at West Ham, Bromley-by-Bow and Poplar and an early municipal electric power station, built in the classical style, in 1905, to the south of the Bromley-by-Bow Gas works.

The marginal nature of the marshes at the north end of the Masterplan Area and the abundance of water attracted ‘dirty’ industries, such as the chemical industry from relatively early in the area’s development. The industry even encroached onto Stratford High Street, with Howard & Sons’ chemical works being present there from 1805.

Map of waterways

New waterways continued to be built, such as the Limehouse Cut, opened in September 1770, linking the Lea to the Limehouse Basin, and the 1930s Prescott Channel. The 1930s saw the major overhaul of the canal system with channels being straightened and diverted and the construction and reconstruction of locks, such as those at Carpenters Road, at the confluence of the Lea and Pudding Mill Rivers and on Blaker Road.

The railways were also important in the historic development of the Masterplan Area. The main lines were those from Stratford to North Woolwich, of 1846-47, the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (now the District and Hammersmith and City lines) and the Great Eastern Railway and the North London Line. The Stratford Railway Works covered a large part of the north eastern part of the study area and its presence was instrumental in the establishment of the development of the adjacent part of Leyton where the workforce was housed. Railway sidings and goods yards were established in several places alongside the main lines to provide transport for the industries that either became less dependent on the waterways or relied on the railways for national distribution. Thus there were goods yards on Carpenters Road and north of Bow Road.

The area became an important part of London’s main drainage system, designed by Bazalgette and constructed 1859-65, containing the Northern Outfall Sewer and Abbey Mills pumping station. The local sewage system was only connected to the outfall sewer in 1893 and West Ham pumping station, on Abbey Road, was completed in 1901. The sewer and the railways, which were mostly in place by the end of the 1860s, crossed the river valley on embankments which, together with the waterways, physically divided the area up into small districts, each of which subsequently developed differently.

Excavating the remains of a V2 bomb in East London

The extent of heavy industry left little room for the development of 20th century industries, such as light engineering and the area went into economic decline after the First World War. Heavy bombing in the Second World War, and after the war the further decline of heavy industry, the rush to build new houses and the wholesale removal of dock operations to Tilbury, further eroded the historic townscape. New buildings of architectural and historic interest continued to be built, such as the Landsbury Estate (a showpiece of the 1951 Festival of Britain).

The legacy of the last 200 years of industrial development in the Lea Valley comprises not only buried below-ground archaeological remains but a number of interesting, important and/or Listed buildings and structures. As well as excavation of the buried archaeology MOLAS-PCA will be carrying out full recording of such buildings where required and appropriate.

Assessment

Areas of assessment

In 2004 MoLAS-PCA produced the Archaeological and Built Heritage chapters of the first environmental impact assessment (EIA). This document was commissioned to support the planning applications by the London Development Agency (LDA) for the London 2012 bid. The overall Environmental Statement (ES) was coordinated and produced by Capita Symonds.

The Planning Applications and supporting information - including the ES - were submitted to the four Lower Lea Valley London Boroughs (LBs) in January 2004. Planning Consent was granted on 14th October 2004. A revised version was undertaken in late 2006/early 2007 and a new Planning Consent was granted in August 2007.

The Archaeology and Built Heritage Chapters of the ES assess the general impact of the proposals for redevelopment of the Lea Valley over the next few years, with equal regard to both known resources, eg visible historic buildings and structures or predicted alignments of Roman roads; and unknown resources eg buried prehistoric landscapes in the deep alluvial soils of the Lea Valley.

As part of this process each of the 15 principal construction/development zones of the Olympic Park site was provided with a more intensive Detailed Desk-Based Assessment (DDBA) which examined the archaeological and built heritage resources of that particular area. These reports were then used as the basis for project designs (‘wsis’, written scheme of investigation’) for standing building recording prior to demolition and preliminary field evaluation (test-pits, trenches, boreholes) before determination of the appropriate course of mitigation.

Here is a sequence of maps from just one of these DDBAs, for Zone 5 (around the old Hackney Wick Stadium), clearly demonstrating a fairly typical development from medieval agriculture to modern urban landscape.

Construction zones

As work on redevelopment accelerates each of the main construction zones of the Olympic site will be subject to a more intensive Detailed Desk-Based Assessment (DDBA) which will examine the archaeological and built heritage resources of that particular area. These reports will be used as the basis for preliminary evaluation (test-pits, trenches, boreholes) before the Local Authority decides upon the appropriate course of mitigation.

Here is a sequence of maps from just one of these DDBAs, for Construction Zone 5 (around the old Hackney Wick Stadium), clearly demonstrating a fairly typical developement from medieval agriculture to modern urban landscape.

Consultation

As part of the overall process of environmental impact assessment for the planning application, MoLAS-PCA undertook to consult with various statutory and non-statutory bodies to elicit comments they felt able to make on the nature of the schemes, the impacts thereof, and the process of archaeological impact assessment being undertaken.

The list of consultees was drawn up to represent a full cross section of those statutory, professional and voluntary groups closely associated with any aspect of London’s archaeological or built heritage. Consultees included the 20th century Society, the Georgian Group, the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, the National Trust, the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and the Victorian Society, as well as those referenced below. The following is a brief summary of some of the more pertinent comments:

Both the Council for British Archaeology and the Greater London Archaeology Advisory Service (English Heritage) drew particular attention to the importance of the potential for surviving paleoenvironmental evidence and other hidden deposits from all periods in the alluvium associated with the River Lea and other water bodies.

The Garden History Society drew particular attention to the Greenway, Three Mills, allotment gardens in the north west part of the Masterplan Area, and the Memorial Garden by Bromley-by-Bow gas works. The importance of the Three Mills area (including the Clock Mill, the so-called Custom House, and the historic streetscape of Three Mill Lane with its listed roadway over the bridge) was also pointed out in the reply from GLIAS.

The Greater London Industrial Archaeology Society (GLIAS) drew attention to the importance of: Abbey Mills and West Ham pumping stations, and the northern Outfall Sewer; Bromley Gasworks; Trinity Buoy Wharf; East India Dock Basin and East India Dock Wall; Blackwall Yard dry docks; and the Naval Row and Duthie Street pumping stations.

Attention was also drawn (again by GLIAS) to historic ‘manufacturing sites of notes’, and clusters of such buildings as the Riverside Works at Wick Lane, Crown Wharf Iron Works, Swan Wharf, Britannia Works, Wick Lane Rubber Works, and the Alpha Works at Smeed Lane.

Sites related to historic transport were highlighted, including the Hertford Union Canal, the Hackney Cut and the Limehouse Cut, together with numbers of locks and bridges. Finally, having provided an extensive and useful list of important buildings and sites (which informed the sections on Built Heritage within the ES), GLIAS concluded by noting that the list provided was highly selective and that it should not “.. be assumed that any industrial building or site not listed above is of no importance.”

The RIBA used the opportunity to draw attention to six specific buildings or structures within or adjacent to the Masterplan Area which they consider to be examples of ‘exemplary architecture’ and which have all won RIBA awards in the past 11 years. These are: Three Mills; Abbey Mills Pumping Station; Stratford Regional Station; London Underground, Stratford Market Depot; Blackwall Yard Phase One, Blackwall Way; Blackwall Tunnel.

All of the organisations consulted by MoLAS-PCA are listed in Annex ARCH.1 of the Environmental Statement, with their full responses.

MoLAS-PCA in the Lea Valley

MoLAS-PCA excavations in east London

The scale of the urban regeneration required in east London requires a unique commitment. The collaborative venture involving two of Britain’s largest archaeological organisations is aimed at providing our clients with unparalleled knowledge as well as professional surety. Together, MoLAS-PCA can provide c 300 staff, including project managers, professional surveyors, architectural historians, photographers, editors, designers, computer graphics specialists and archaeologists. MoLAS and PCA are both Registered Archaeological Organisations with the Institute of Field Archaeologists.

The Museum of London Archaeology Service, (MoLAS) has carried out c.c. 120 projects in the four boroughs since 1997, ranging from desk studies and planning consultancy to excavations and historic building surveys. It is currently undertaking a major landscape assessment for Thames Estuary Partnerships on urban regeneration in the boroughs bordering the Thames Estuary, and a deposit modelling project on the Lea Valley gravels in association with the British Geological Survey and English Heritage.

Pre-Construct Archaeology (PCA) has provided a complete range of archaeological services on c.c. 130 developments in the key boroughs of Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets since 1995 - on housing projects, road and infrastructure schemes, schools and hotels. PCA has recently undertaken an extensive study of the archaeological and built heritage resources of the Lower Lea Valley on behalf of the London Borough of Newham. PCA’s senior management include key staff from the former archaeological service of Newham Council.

Where next ?

Over the next few years the archaeology and built heritage of the Lea Valley are going to undergo extensive investigation and research. MOLAS-PCA are fully committed to bringing the the results of this work to the attention of all Londoners and hope to involve as many as possible in the actual process.

For further information on community engagement in the Lea Valley see http://www.lda.gov.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.400 [link to http://www.lda.gov.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.400]

For further information on the London Development Agency and the 2012 Games see http://www.lda.gov.uk/server/show/nav.001002001001 [link to http://www.lda.gov.uk/server/show/nav.001002001001]

For further information on 'London 2012London 2012' see http://www.london2012.org/en [link to http://www.london2012.org/en]

For information on the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tower Hamlets see http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/data/discover/data/olympics/data/th-benefits.cfm [link to http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/data/discover/data/olympics/data/th-benefits.cfm]

For information on the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Newham see http://www.olympics.newham.gov.uk/index.htm [link to http://www.olympics.newham.gov.uk/index.htm]

For information on the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Hackney see http://www.hackney.gov.uk/index/hackney/olympics.htm [link to http://www.hackney.gov.uk/index/hackney/olympics.htm]

Sites

Map

We have prepared a Google map [link to http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=102875030007796059928.00043560fc10decee9563&ll=51.547242,-0.015278&spn=0.034374,0.076904&t=h&z=14] showing the archaeological sites investigated so far by MoLAS-PCA as part of the preparatory work undertaken on behalf of the London Development Agency. Many more are likely over the next couple of years and we will be bringing you the results here. You can also see this in Google Earth by opening the KML file [link to http://www.molas.org.uk/xml/MoLAS-PCA_Olympic_archaeological_sites_all.kml] .