Return to the Roman City:
Bullwharf /Queenhythe
On Christmas Day 886, King
Alfred , exasperated by the attacks of the Danes, finally decided to
abandon the undefended 'open' site of Lundenwic, and to return to
the safety of the old Roman walls
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At Bullwharf, evidence of this very
first return has been discovered, on a site already recorded in the
documents as 'Queenhythe'.
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A Saxon Sacrifice
What happened when the Saxon returned to the old Roman city,
surrounded by the ghosts of old?
A sacrifice had to be made, and down by the river, two bodies were
discovered, buried on the open foreshore. Here we see one of them, a
young woman covered by moss. The hole in her head from which she
died is clearly visible.
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A late Saxon Wharf
The new, or rather the revived town, grew rapidly.
Wharves were gradually pushed forward out into the river. Here
we see one of these wharves being excavated, re-using timbers that
had evidently come from an elaborate timber hall. The
archaeologists were able to reconstruct this late Saxon hall,
based on these re-used timbers.
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The massive medieval wharves
In Saxon and medieval London, the wharves were continually
bring rebuilt further out into the river, to reclaim more land for
the warehouses.
Because this land has always remained waterlogged, the timbers have
been preserved. Here we see a wharf of 1026/7 - the date being given
by tree-ring dating.
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A full account of this work is to be found in Current Archaeology 158
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Created: 21st February 1999
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