The Port of Roman London

176 Pages·1985·27.15 MB·English

by  Gustav Milne

Many books on Roman London have been
written but none has concentrated on the city as
a port. This is simply because much of the vital
evidence has only recently been revealed.
From 1979 to 1982, an intensive programme of
rescue excavations was mounted near London
Bridge and Billingsgate in advance of the
imminent redevelopment of the area. As a
result, dramatic evidence of activity in the heart
of the Roman harbour was recovered. This
illustrated discussion of that remarkable
material plots the development of this crucial
area of the Roman city, while other chapters are
devoted to considerations of the dating evidence,
the Roman bridge, the well-preserved quay
structures, warehousing, the ancient River
Thames with its fis1- ' -tnd oyster industries, its
ships and barges and the traffic and trade it
handled. In conclusion, a critical reappraisal of
the role of this important Roman provincial port
is outlined.
This synthesis of the results of a major urban
excavation programme has much to offer
Romanists, urban and nautical archaeologists,
those interested in the study of ports and
harbours, and anyone fascinated by the history
of the ancient City of London.
The text, edited by Gustav Milne of the
Museum of London, is written by the
archaeologists who excavated the sites and the
specialists who examined the site material at first
hand.

THE
PORT OF ROMAN
LONDON
Gustav Milne
B.T. Batsford Ltd London
C Gustav Milne 1985
First published 1985
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, in any form or by any means, without
permission from the Publisher.
Typeset by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Manchester
and printed in Great Britain by
Anchor Brendon Ltd, Tiptree, Essex
for the publishers
Batsford Academic and Educational, an imprint of
B.T. Batsford Ltd
4 Fitzhardinge Street
London wih oah
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Milne, Gustav
The Roman port of London.
1. London (England)—Harbour—History
2. Rome—History—Empire, 30 B.C.-476 A.D.
I. Title
387.1'09362'1 HE558.L8
ISBN o 7134 4364 2 (cased)
ISBN o 7134 4365 o (limp)
CONTENTS
Preface 7 8 The river as a resource 87
1 Death of a Victorian port 9 The sauce of the Thames (by N.
Discovery of a Roman Bateman with A. Locker)/Oyster
harbour/The study area culture (by J. Winder)
2 Growth of a Roman harbour 22 9 Ships and barges 96
The prehistoric riverbank/mid-first Shipping on the Tiber and the
century/late first century/early Rhine/Roman wrecks in the
second century/mid-late second Thames/Handling the cargoes
century / third century /early to (with B. Richardson)
mid-fourth century/late fourth 10 Traffic and trade 103
century (by F. Grew, F. Pritchard and B.
3 Dating the development 34 Richardson)
A relative chronology / Introduction /Building materials
Dendrochronology (by J. Hillam)/ from Britain and overseas/Imported
Pottery (by B. Richardson)/Coins food and drink /Pottery /Textiles /Lamps/
(by F. Grew and J. Hall)/ Glass/Ceramic figurines/The
Conclusions changing pattern of traffic in Roman
4 Bridging the Thames 44 London
The search for Roman London 11 Building on the waterfront 127
bridge/A bridge discovered?/ (by N. Bateman and G. Milne)
Reconstructing the bridge/Three Terracing the hillside /Drainage/
Roman London bridges? Buildings and streets/The
5 Roman quay construction 55 development of Building 2:
The western quay cad 70 (with L. a warehouse transformed/
Miller)/The landing stage cad Building 6 and the late Roman
80/The eastern quay cad 90/ revival
Civil engineering and Roman 12 The harbour and the town 142
joinery/Timber supply: British The pattern of waterfront
oaks and the cedars of Lebanon development/The port of Roman
6 Warehousing in Roman London 68 London / Imports, exports and the
(by N. Bateman) hinterland of London/Roman
Horrea in Roman Britain and the London: a tale of three
empire/Storing or selling/ cities/London and the study of
Management and manpower/ provincial harbours.
Markets and storage in London/ Bibliography 152
Conclusions Index 158
7 The Roman river 79
Rising river levels /Background to
the study (with V. Straker)/South
bank in the first century / North
bank in the first century/Evidence
for a tidal Roman river (with Dr R.
Battarbce)/Riverside topography/
The late Roman river