Londons First Roman Fort (Prior to the one next to the Museum of London) The first post-Boudican fort was built at Fenchurch Street in response to the tribes of Britons revolting against Roman rule. In AD 60 or 61, while the Roman governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus was leading a campaign on the island of Anglesey off the northwest coast of Wales, Boudica led the Iceni as well as the Trinovantes in a march of total destruction of Roman Britainnia. After the destruction of the first town of Londinium, the Romans looked to fortify their position. The fort was built in the Early Roman period (AD65-80) around the site of 20 Fenchurch Street as a temporary structure. Excavations by the Museum of London at Plantation Place uncovered the north-east corner of the temporary fort and created a reconstruction plan based on these findings. Further supporting evidence for the fort is “scant”, but finds include a lorica segmentata armour fittings and a possible spear butt. Possibly fort-related features include clay-and-timber buildings, a large timber-lined water tank and a metalworking workshop. After the fort was demolished, the later 1st-century AD occupation of the site was again domestic in character, with a succession of short-lived clay-and-timber buildings constructed across the area. A later fort was then built around AD120, just north-west of the main population settlement. It covered 12 acres and was almost square in size, 200m along each length. This fort could house up to 1000 men and provided suitable barracks and gated entry. (This later fort is visible today as part of the Barbican and Museum of London complex)
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 16:13:57 +0000
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