Roman London and the Walbrook Stream Crossing: Excavations at 1 Poultry and Vicinity

The site of 1 Poultry, excavated in the 1990s, is located near the Bank of England in the heart of the City of London. It lay immediately west of the point where the main east-west road through Roman London bridged the Walbrook stream and proved to be one of the most significant archaeological sites ever excavated in the City, with an unparalleled sequence of buildings, roads and open spaces. A timber drain of AD 47 beneath the main road is the earliest, securely dated structure yet known from Londinium and a pottery shop destroyed in the Boudican revolt gives a snapshot of life in AD 60/61. A 2nd-century AD writing tablet preserves the only evidence for the sale of a slave found in Britain to date, while the 3rd- and 4th-century buildings on the site provide a rare demonstration of the continuities and changes that occurred in Roman urban life. The key sequence from 1 Poultry provides the majority of the evidence but is augmented by findings from Docklands Light Railway sites at Bucklersbury, Lothbury and Lombard Street and other work at 72-75 Cheapside, 76-80 Cheapside, 36-37 King Street and Mansion House. Together, the sites provide a comprehensive record of the development of Londinium over the entire Roman period.