Roman London

London's life began with the invasion of the Romans in 43AD. Invading from Kent the Romans' advance was stopped by the River Thames. A bridge was built and with it a network of roads. North of the river the Roman settlement was known as Londinium and quickly established itself as a trading centre for goods brought up the Thames by boat and unloaded at wooden docks by the bridge.

About 200AD the Romans built a defensive wall  around the city.

This wall defined the shape and size of London for over a 1000 years. The area within the wall is now 'the City', the financial sector of London.

Parts of the wall can still be seen

These remains are next to the Tower of London

This is one of the most impressive surviving sections of the wall  and can be seen to the Southeast of Tower Hill Underground station.

Other parts of the wall can be seen on Noble Street near the Museum of London.

 

The Great Fire of London in 1666 was stopped by the wall preventing further destruction north of the wall. Later on parts of the wall were demolished or incorporated into new buildings but bomb damage in the 1940s revealed more of the City Wall which is now protected by English Heritage.

Roman discoveries are still being made as archaeologists must excavate an area before any new construction within the City of London can begin. In 1988 Museum of London archaeologists discovered the site of an amphitheatre beneath the Guildhall Yard. It was built in 70AD as a wooden structure  but was restructured in the 2nd century to accommodate 6000 spectators. After the Romans left Britain in the 4th Century the amphitheatre was dismantled and the stone used for building materials elsewhere,

The remains can be seen below the Guildhall Art Gallery.

 Clever light projections help you to imagine what it would have looked like.

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