“It really is the heart of Roman London, where the big decisions that were made impacted the rest of London and also the wider Roman world in Britain,” Henderson-Schwartz added.
Hannah Platts, a lecturer in ancient history and material culture at the University of London, said that the basilica’s discovery was “hugely significant” because it also revealed how the province of Britannia was integrated into the broader Roman Empire.
“What the discovery demonstrates is that the Romans were quick to instill in Britannia similar methods of governing that they used elsewhere in the Roman world,” she said.
Archeologists and historians had long suspected the approximate location of the 2,000-year-old building through earlier investigations. But the full extent of what was hidden beneath the concrete floor was only uncovered when the building’s owners, Hertshten Properties, approached MOLA to launch a new investigation.
“We knew that this was potentially the site of the first Roman Basilica, but what we didn’t know was how well these remains had survived,” said Henderson-Schwartz.
From there, the team undertook several small test pits, or open areas of excavation, to see what was hidden beneath the concrete floor. What they found were large sections of the Roman basilica still intact — walls 32 feet long and 13 feet deep made of flint and limestone transported from Kent.
Among other artifacts, archaeologists uncovered bits of Roman pottery, brick, and tiles, including one roof tile with the name ‘London’ stamped into it and fingerprints of the Roman tile maker.
“You can literally put your fingers in their finger marks on the tile, so it’s really a tangible connection to the early origins of the city,” Henderson-Schwartz added.
