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I can only imagine the archaeological finds that sit undisturbed beneath landmarks that can never be moved (St Pauls, House of Commons, other ancient churches e

by jl6 5y ago

I can only imagine the archaeological finds that sit undisturbed beneath landmarks that can never be moved (St Pauls, House of Commons, other ancient churches etc.). London is built on top of London.

klelatti 5y ago
For new office developments the developers often decide to limit how deep they dig for fear that they will find something - not because they want to preserve it but because if they do then its 12 months delay whilst the site is properly explored.
tikkabhuna 5y ago
They found Roman artefacts under the new Bloomberg office when they built it. It halted development for some time. Its now open as a free museum: https://www.londonmithraeum.com/ https://www.londonmithraeum.com/ Cool if you work in the City. My boss and I did it on our lunch break.
- klelatti 5y ago
  It is well worth a visit. Just to clarify that the main discovery of the Temple of Mithras was in 1954. The Temple was then moved, put out in the open in Queen Victoria Street in front of some offices and was largely ignored - essentially just looked like a small ruined wall. I used to see a few tourists come to see it and quickly walk away. Credit to Bloomberg for putting it back in its original position and making seeing it a worthwhile experience. The Bloomberg office is worth a visit too - it won the Stirling Prize for architecture in the UK - but it's not open to the general public, although they have hosted some tech talks in there.
DrBazza 5y ago
It's pretty hard to put a shovel in the ground in London without hitting something old. We've moved and covered rivers (Fleet, Neckinger, etc.), we've covered and uncovered plague pits, built over and through Roman walls, or you can just go plain-old mud-larking. Then there are lost tunnels. The list goes on... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Fleet#Today https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Fleet#Today https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldgate_tube_station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldgate_tube_station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Wall https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Wall https://www.frommers.com/slideshows/848024-mudlarking-in-the-thames-might-be-the-best-thing-i-ve-done-in-london https://www.frommers.com/slideshows/848024-mudlarking-in-the... https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/londons-lost-pneumatic-railways-part-2-7708/ https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/londons-lost-pneumatic-... https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/the-northern-line-tunnel-that-was-bombed-and-flooded-in-1940-and-is-still-sealed-shut-5331/ https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/the-northern-line-tunne...
- londons_explore 5y ago
  > just go plain-old mud-larking. Not without a license you can't...
- robin_reala 5y ago
  There was a huge amount of archaeological finds during the Crossrail excavation. There’s a site for that at https://archaeology.crossrail.co.uk/ https://archaeology.crossrail.co.uk/

by jl6 5y ago

I can only imagine the archaeological finds that sit undisturbed beneath landmarks that can never be moved (St Pauls, House of Commons, other ancient churches etc.). London is built on top of London.

klelatti 5y ago

For new office developments the developers often decide to limit how deep they dig for fear that they will find something - not because they want to preserve it but because if they do then its 12 months delay whilst the site is properly explored.

tikkabhuna 5y ago

They found Roman artefacts under the new Bloomberg office when they built it. It halted development for some time. Its now open as a free museum: https://www.londonmithraeum.com/ https://www.londonmithraeum.com/ Cool if you work in the City. My boss and I did it on our lunch break.

klelatti 5y ago
It is well worth a visit. Just to clarify that the main discovery of the Temple of Mithras was in 1954. The Temple was then moved, put out in the open in Queen Victoria Street in front of some offices and was largely ignored - essentially just looked like a small ruined wall. I used to see a few tourists come to see it and quickly walk away. Credit to Bloomberg for putting it back in its original position and making seeing it a worthwhile experience. The Bloomberg office is worth a visit too - it won the Stirling Prize for architecture in the UK - but it's not open to the general public, although they have hosted some tech talks in there.

DrBazza 5y ago

It's pretty hard to put a shovel in the ground in London without hitting something old. We've moved and covered rivers (Fleet, Neckinger, etc.), we've covered and uncovered plague pits, built over and through Roman walls, or you can just go plain-old mud-larking. Then there are lost tunnels. The list goes on... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Fleet#Today https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Fleet#Today https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldgate_tube_station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldgate_tube_station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Wall https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Wall https://www.frommers.com/slideshows/848024-mudlarking-in-the-thames-might-be-the-best-thing-i-ve-done-in-london https://www.frommers.com/slideshows/848024-mudlarking-in-the... https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/londons-lost-pneumatic-railways-part-2-7708/ https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/londons-lost-pneumatic-... https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/the-northern-line-tunnel-that-was-bombed-and-flooded-in-1940-and-is-still-sealed-shut-5331/ https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/the-northern-line-tunne...

londons_explore 5y ago
> just go plain-old mud-larking. Not without a license you can't...
robin_reala 5y ago
There was a huge amount of archaeological finds during the Crossrail excavation. There’s a site for that at https://archaeology.crossrail.co.uk/ https://archaeology.crossrail.co.uk/