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Trade and transport: in detail
Photograph of a wide-bodied jar with a pointed base. The neck is narrow and has a looped handle on either side. This one was found in pieces and has been carefully reconstructed. Magnifing glass image

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Large jars called amphorae were used to store oil and other liquids

What were the roads like?

One of the first roads the Romans built was the main road which ran east- west through Londinium and continued on to Silchester. Archaeologists have excavated it at several sites, including 1 Poultry. It was 9 metres wide with a drain at either side and was made from a solid slab of brickearth with compacted gravel on top. By the late 4th century it had been resurfaced 12 times and risen over a metre in height.

 
Photograph of a man in a tunic seated at a potter's wheel. His hands are inside a pot on the wheel shaping it. Magnifing glass image

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Potter Jim Newbolt throws a pot in the Roman style

What industries were here?

The population of a busy, cosmopolitan town like Londinium demanded a variety of different crafts and trades. Leather workers had workshops by the Walbrook stream. Toolmakers made tools for a range of local crafts. Residues of copper and iron working from Southwark show that successive Roman metalworkers used this area for about 300 years. Industrial pottery production has been found in the Moorgate area and on the site of St Paul's Cathedral. Huge millstones from the Walbrook area suggest bakers were using flour from water-driven mills.

 
Close-up photograph of an iron bar with a ball end, threaded through ‘eyes' in the ends of two bars which sit to either side Magnifing glass image

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Hinged metal joint from Gresham Street water lifting device

What about trade?

Trade was vital for Londinium's early growth but there is much less evidence for it in the third and fourth centuries AD. One reason might be declining river levels which would have made it harder for ships to navigate the Thames. But despite civil war and barbarian attacks in the north-west provinces, there is still evidence of some imported goods in Londinium. Archaeologists are now suggesting that port activities may have been moved downstream to Shadwell when the original port was abandoned in the mid third century.

Why is Shadwell important?
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Photograph of two walls of massive timbers interlocking to make a right-angled corner. An archaeologist crouches in the foreground at the foot of the wall measuring it.

Discovering trade and transport

Line and wash drawing of a single-masted boat with a square rigged sail. The hull of the boat is built of overlapping timber planks. Part of the deck is cut away to make a ‘well' deeper than the height of the man who stands in it looking at the heaped cargo.

Evidence of trade and transport

Photograph of a masonry wall with a parallel ditch in front. One archaeologist sits to the right with a clipboard, the other stands behind the wall

Archaeology in action

Line and wash illustration. A blank disc of metal is placed on a form resting on a large block of wood. One man sits to the left holding a second form to shape the top side of the coin. On the right a second man stands and prepares to strike the top form with a hammer.

Trade and transport: crafty links

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