More Roman remains could be sitting just 60cm below the Lidl on Old Kent Road, by Bricklayers Arms, according to a report.
Roman pits, ditches, a funerary sculpture and a suspected mausoleum have previously been discovered in and around the site, leading experts to believe there could be more artefacts.
The report has been devised ahead of Lidl’s plans to extend the store into the delivery bay and car park to create more floor space.
The site falls within a tier 1 archaeological priority area, stipulated by Historic England, meaning its planning application had to be accompanied by an archaeological assessment.
While the report found that there is a “high potential” for more Roman remains, it said they are probably not significant enough to constrain the development.
http://southwarknews.co.uk/news/misc/ancient-roman-building-discovered-in-bankside/
Instead, it said that an archaeological watching brief, where an archaeologist is employed to monitor works, would be sufficient.
However, items found are likely to be important enough to mean they’ll be recorded after being removed.
The Old Kent Road was an important thoroughfare after the Roman invasion of Britain and subsequent occupation of Londinium.
Between 1994 and 1995, Roman-era pits were found on the site of the Old Kent Road store. It was common practice during the Roman period to bury the remains of the dead along the main approach roads leading into cities.
A Roman-era soil horizon – where a layer of soil differs from that below it – was also found on the site during excavations in that same period.
Astonishingly, evidence from these investigations suggests further Roman artefacts may be encountered at a depth of just 0.6 metres.
http://southwarknews.co.uk/news/misc/southwarks-archaeology-highlights-of-2021/
Old Kent Road was part of Watling Street during the Roman period and Wæcelinga Stræt under the Anglo-Saxons.
Watling Street was a 444km road from Dover to the northwest of England via St Albans and Wroxeter – an historic route and important artery for the Romans and ancient Britons.
After the Roman Empire crumbled, pilgrims would travel along the Old Kent Road to the shrine of former Archbishop Thomas a Becket in Canterbury, often gathering at the Tabard, a famous inn that once stood on Borough High Street.
In the wider archaeological priority area, stretching from Bricklayer’s Arms to the Tesco Superstore on Old Kent Road, nine sets of prehistoric remains have been found, 36 Roman, nine Medieval and 36 post-Medieval.