Roman defences and medieval industry: excavations at Baltic House, City of London

Abstract

• Excavations on the site of the Baltic Exchange, badly damaged by a bomb in 1994 and now the location of Foster’s Swiss Re tower, uncovered evidence of a late 1st-century defensive ditch which formed part of Londinium’s early town boundary. A single late Roman building was recorded, along with a burial, and the area appeared to have been used for either cultivation or rubbish disposal. Medieval activity dated from the 11th century onwards. Evidence of industry included the manufacture of bells and kitchen utensils in the 13th to 15th centuries. In the early 18th century the Jeffrey family home was replaced by terraced houses, which gave way to the Baltic Mercantile and Shipping Exchange a century later.