Living In Roman London

The writing tablet was found in 1986 during excavation on the Garden House site at the corner of Throgmorton Ave and Austin Friars (TRM86), in what was once the Walbrook valley. It is a rectangle of wood, probably silver fir, recessed on one face only with two holes pierced for cords which hinged it to other tablets.

The recess was originally filled with a smooth coating of black wax made from beeswax and soot. Lettering was applied with a pointed implement, a stylus. By scratching through the wax to the pale wood beneath, the lettering showed up against the dark background. Some of the lettering survived scratched in the wood by the point of the stylus. It was carefully laid out by an experienced scribe.

This is the longest stilus tablet yet found from Britain. It is a legal document which implies a judicial authority and a secretariat to record its decisions. It indicates that by the early 2nd century, London was the formal capital of Britain. Records must have been made of ownership of land throughout the province.

It gives a rare land-price – 5 acres costing forty silver denarii. The land may once have been a Celtic sacred grove, confiscated tribal land that was sold to strangers and was labelled like a piece of Roman real estate.

This information is taken from an article, 'A five-acre wood in Roman Kent', by Dr Roger Tomlin, University of Oxford.