This 2000-Year-Old Riverside Roman Wall In London Is Now A National Monument

by Vaishalee Kalvankar
This 2000-Year-Old Riverside Roman Wall In London Is Now A National Monument

The National Heritage List for England has designated an underground Roman wall in downtown London as a listed monument. Roman London had a large stone wall that connected to the landward wall. Today, known as the London Wall. It was a relatively unknown riverside wall. A once-vast stone building that was a part of Roman London’s defence was the riverbank wall. 

Roman Wall In City Of London 

A large but little-known Roman wall was found beneath the City of London, and three of its parts have been accorded protected protection as scheduled national monuments.

It was constructed along the Thames in the third century AD to link the city’s landward defences, the majority of which are still visible today. Although one section of the wall survived around the Tower of London, much of it has been lost in the 1,700 years since it was built. (As per The Guardian)

Sections of the wall were discovered at three sites during the Museum of London Archaeology’s excavations between 2006 and 2016, which came after earlier excavations in the 1970s and 1980s. (As per BBC News)

These sites are today equally protected and revered as the only other known portion of the Roman riverbank wall, which is located at the Tower of London.

roman wall
credits: MOLA

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National Heritage List Of England

Well-preserved wooden dock and quay buildings from the Roman and mediaeval periods, which were discovered beside the wall, can be found among the ruins of the newly designated riverside Roman wall section.

 They have now been inscribed on England’s National Heritage List, making them recognised as important national landmarks and protected from any foreseeable development.

roman wall
credits: MOLA

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Parts of the wall contain recycled stones from Roman monuments, providing further context for the architecture and construction methods used at the time. 

Over the past 1,700 years, as London has grown, a large portion of the wall has been destroyed.

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Cover Image Courtesy: MOLA