XVII.—Notes on a recent discovery of part of the Roman Wall of London

Extract

The following notes, mostly made on the spot, record the discovery of a further portion of the Roman wall of London, and give such details respecting its construction as it has been possible to observe.

The Government having determined to erect additional buildings to the General Post Office in St. Martin's le Grand, certain steps were taken in order to ascertain the nature of the ground on which these buildings were to be placed. For this purpose, in the latter part of 1887, shafts were sunk along a line from Aldersgate Street to King Edward Street, some yards south of the old money order office and parallel to Bull and Mouth Street, a street now swept away. In sinking these pits the workmen came upon the Roman wall, and afterwards, as the process of preparing the site for the new buildings proceeded, a considerable fragment of it was unearthed running east and west, and extending from Aidersgate Street on the one side to King Edward Street on the other. It was found that the line of buildings and walls forming the southern boundary of the churchyard of St. Botolph, Aldersgate Street, was based upon this wall, and it seems very probable that the churchyard and church above named partly occupy the ground filling up the original ditch.