The Poultry dig

The background

The Poultry site lies almost exactly in the centre of the modern City of London. In Roman times too this was a position of great importance. It was where the main east-west street - High Street Londinium - crossed a small river, the Walbrook. The Walbrook ran north-south, dividing the city into two.

The dig came about because the site was to be redeveloped with a gigantic new office block. Its foundations would obliterate all earlier remains. The archaeological work was itself financed largely by the developers, and was carefully coordinated with the construction programme. As the dig proceeded deep down in the basements, the new building rose from the ground above.

Find out what the dig told us about:

• the founding of Londinium
• High Street Londinium, AD100
• later Roman London

• the geography of Londinium

Description of the image(s) on this page:

Top: The Poultry site today. The new block was designed by the late Sir James Stirling.

Bottom: Looking north over the Poultry dig, a huge triangular-shaped site. Much of the work took place underground, as the new building rose above.

Exhibition sponsored by

Archaeology | Background Information | High Street Londinium Main Page

©Museum of London