Roman Archaeology in the Upper Reaches of the Walbrook Valley: Excavations at 6-8 Tokenhouse Yard, London Ec2

Tokenhouse Yard in the City of London lies in the upper reaches of the valley of the Walbrook. The Walbrook was undoubtedly a powerful and important topographical feature of the Roman city, rising to the north and coursing through the centre of the settlement cleaving it into two low hills, Cornhill and Ludgate Hill, before discharging into the Thames to the south. This area witnessed the build up of almost 4m of stratified deposits in the years between c. AD 43 and 400. The results of excavation presented in this volume tell the story of the struggle to live alongside the river, attempts to control its course and alleviate flooding. Waterlogged conditions resulted in outstanding preservation of organic remains and artefacts.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1: Circumstances of the fieldwork
1.2: Organisation of the report
1.3: Geological, topographical and archaeological background

Chapter 2: The Archaeological Sequence 2.1: Channels of the Walbrook
2.2: Early Roman activity: Drainage and consolidation c. AD 50–70
2.3: Early Roman occupation: Alley, fences and box drains AD 70–90
2.4: Reclamation of the area: Drainage and rebuilding AD 90–130
2.5: Rustic structure and further flooding AD 130–180
2.6: Further Flooding and occupation AD 180–250
2.7: Late Roman activity AD 250–400
2.8: Medieval activity

Chapter 3: Specialist Reports 3.1: The Roman pottery
3.2: The building materials
3.3: The Roman coins
3.4: The Roman small finds
3.5: The medieval small finds
3.6: The leather
3.7: The wood assemblage
3.8: The dendrochronological dating
3.9: The animal bone
3.10: The environmental evidence

Chapter 4: Discussion and conclusions Appendix 1: Gazeteer of sites discussed in the text in the vicinity of Tokenhouse Yard
Appendix 2: Pottery fabric expansion codes and quantification tables
Appendix 3: Pollen diagrams
French and German Summaries

Jim Leary is director of the Archaeology Field School of the Department of Archaeology, University of Reading. His main areas of research are in Neolithic and Early Bronze Age monumentality; the social impact of sea-level rise and submergence of landscapes in the past; and mobility and movement in the past.



Victoria Ridgeway is the editor and manager of Pre-Construct Archaeology’s monograph series. Her main research interests are Roman London, particularly its ritual and landscape setting. Her 30 years’ archaeological experience have involved collaboration in the excavation and publication of complex urban sites of all periods across Greater London, ranging from the prehistoric period to 19th-century developments at King’s Cross.