Summary
A succession of Roman quayside structures and a Roman riverside wall built between the 1st century and 3rd century surviving as buried remains. The area covered by the Roman quayside structures also includes several medieval wharves and associated features surviving as buried remains.
Reasons for Designation
The site of Sugar Quay, Lower Thames Street, is scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Historic importance: the Roman quays and riverside wall hold particular historic significance for their association with the origins and development of England’s capital city, the establishment and operation of the port, and the nature of the city’s defences;
* Survival: this part of the Roman quay and riverside wall have been shown to survive relatively well as buried remains, as have the medieval waterfront structures on this site, including some timber structures, such as the Roman box-quay, which demonstrate an exceptional level of preservation for organic remains;
* Documentation (archaeological): this part of the wall and port has been recorded through archaeological excavation, providing important information regarding Roman and medieval civil engineering and construction techniques, as well as archaeological deposits relating to the quayside;
* Rarity: Sugar Quay is one of only four such sites currently known where the Roman riverside wall has been confirmed to survive and remain in-situ;
* Potential: the Roman riverside wall and Roman and medieval quayside retain a high degree of potential for further investigation, which will provide valuable insights into the construction of the wall and the history of the port;
* Architectural importance: the Roman riverside wall incorporates reused monumental masonry and is thus an important source of architectural information relating to monuments, buildings and structures from the Roman city;
* Group value: this site shares group value with the other surviving sections of the riverside wall at Riverbank House, Three Quays, and The Tower of London, as well as with the scheduled sections of London Wall, and a number of scheduled monuments relating to Roman London, such as Queenhithe dock (Schedule entry 1001994).
History
The port of Roman London (Londinium) was established from the mid-1st century, which led to the construction of a succession of wharves, revetments and docks on the north bank of the River Thames over the course of the next two hundred years. The river foreshore was 100m further inland than it is today; currently beneath buildings next to Upper and Lower Thames Street. The Roman quays built between the late 1st century and 3rd century gradually advanced southwards to create space for warehouses and dockside facilities and also to accommodate a gradual drop in the river level; the quays had to expand into the river to remain usable. Perhaps most notable among these quays, was a heavily built and sophisticated Roman ‘box quay’ constructed in about the mid-2nd century. It was formed of a series of caisson-style boxes built of very substantial timbers which have been found to survive exceptionally well. The box quay is indicative of a major investment in the Roman dockside infrastructure during this period. In the later 3rd century, the fortunes of the Roman port significantly changed with the construction of the Roman riverside wall (see below). This seems to have severed the connection to the quayside, which was no longer maintained, indicating that protection of the city now took priority over river trade.
The landward Roman defensive wall is now known as London Wall. It was constructed as part of an extensive programme of Roman public works. The wall was, until recently, considered to have been built between about AD 190 and AD 225, pre-dating the riverside wall, but subsequent analysis of dendrochronological data has led to the suggestion that both structures were built at the same time, in the later 3rd century, although this is not yet certain (Sheldon 2010 cited in Mackinder 2015, 11). The landward wall was about 3km long and enclosed an area of nearly 330 acres. It served to form the basis of the protection of the town far into the medieval period and was also a key factor in determining the shape and development of both Roman and medieval London. The uniformity of design and construction of the wall suggests that it was planned and built as a single project. London Wall was built on a foundation of puddled clay and included a rubble core interspersed with bonding tile courses. It is known to have stood to a height of about 4.4m above a sandstone plinth and was surmounted by a parapet walkway. Excavation has indicated that defensive bastions were subsequently added to the wall.
The Roman riverside wall was built during the later 3rd century, connecting the south-east and south-west extents of the landward city wall. The wall is thought to have been built to the rear, or on the rear, of the earlier riverside revetments. It broadly ran just to the south of the current line of what is now Upper and Lower Thames Street, and has been identified at eight separate sites: Baynard’s Castle, St Peter’s Hill, Riverbank House, Seal House, New Fresh Wharf, Sugar Quay, Three Quays House and The Tower of London (Wood 2019). It is currently (2022) known to survive in-situ on at least four of these sites: Riverbank House, Sugar Quay, Three Quays, and The Tower of London. In contrast to the landward wall, there was considerable variation in the construction of the riverside wall. At Baynard’s Castle, the wall was recorded as having a foundation of Kentish ragstone blocks rammed into London Clay. The superstructure of the wall on part of this site was recorded to 2.2m high and built of ragstone interspersed with occasional tile courses. It incorporated culverts to enable water to drain southwards into the river. There were later repairs with large sculptured stones from a monumental arch and an ornamental screen. On the sites of Riverbank House, Sugar Quay and Three Quays House, the riverside wall was built with a foundation of five rows of oak piles supporting a chalk raft. The wall above this was variously constructed from monumental reused Roman stonework, including numerous door jambs, or from rubble. Partial excavation at the Tower of London has uncovered a late section of the wall, that differs from the piled sections, and was built 4m to the north of the earlier riverside wall. The existing river wall may have still stood at this time and this later wall may therefore represent some form of strengthening or a platform.
Following the decline of the Roman Empire, permanent settlement within the walls of the Roman city appears to have largely ceased between the end of the 4th century until the late 9th century (Hill 2015). However, by the 7th century a nucleated settlement known as Lundenwic had developed on the north bank of the Thames to the west of the abandoned Roman town. This was an undefended trading post or emporium. The return to the Roman town, where the defensive walls were still standing to a considerable height, was a result of Viking attacks which caused Lundenwic to become untenable (Ibid). In AD 886 King Alfred ordered the reoccupation and fortification of the former Roman city through the establishment of a burgh. The riverside defences were repaired and harbours were established at Queenhithe, Dowgate and Billingsgate, which may have been where gaps in the Roman riverside wall occurred; Thames Street later developed in the C11 probably to link these wharves. The Roman riverside wall was eroded by the river, although the construction of embankments to make good the gaps in the riverside wall did occur in some places. The eastern waterfront of the city was radically altered from 1078 by the construction of The Tower of London. The principal route along the medieval waterfront was Thames Street which marked the base line for subsequent encroachment south into the river. Several quayside structures are recorded in this area in the medieval period. The Great Fire of London in 1666 damaged much of the waterfront as far as the Tower, but rebuilding was swift, and the subsequent arrangement of the quays lasted with relatively little modification until Second World War bomb damage and post-war redevelopment (Ibid).
The site known as Sugar Quay, Lower Thames Street, (also previously called the Old Custom’s House site) was partially excavated in 1973 and in various phases from 2013 to 2016 prior to redevelopment (see Tatton-Brown 1974 and Watson and McKenzie 2018 respectively). The earliest Roman feature recorded was an east-west aligned ditch, over 7m wide and nearly 3m deep. There then followed a succession of Roman waterfront structures dating from the late 1st century, including the substantial box quay built in the mid-2nd century, as well as the Roman riverside wall of the 3rd century. The next major structures recorded on the site were two quays known as Wool Wharf and Stone Wharf built from the late C13. There were then a succession of custom houses, including Churchman Custom House (1382-1559), Paulet’s Custom House (1559-1666), the Wren Custom House (1668-1714) and the Ripley Custom House (1714-1814) (see Watson and McKenzie 2018, 14, for details), as well as a stone river wall in the C17 and C18. A new custom house was built to the west of the site in 1813 (Grade I-listed, List entry 1359193). In the C19 and early C20, the site was occupied by warehouses. New offices for Tate and Lyle (hence the name Sugar Quay) were constructed on the site in 1973 before replacement by an apartment block in 2015.
Details
PRINCIPAL FEATURES
A succession of Roman quayside structures and a Roman riverside wall built between the 1st century and 3rd century surviving as buried remains. The area covered by the Roman quayside structures also includes several medieval wharves and associated features surviving as buried remains.
DESCRIPTION
Roman quayside structures
A succession of Roman quays and revetments were built on this site, which previously formed the north foreshore of the River Thames. Partial excavation recorded at least two quayside structures dating from the late 1st century. The first structure was part of a timber baulk quay assembly whilst the second structure was an east-west aligned timber quay built from horizontally laid tiers of rectangular oak baulks surviving up to three courses high and retained by north-south aligned tie-back beams. A timber revetment uncovered in 1973 at the north-east corner of the site may be associated with these structures. In the mid-2nd century a substantial box quay, formed from a series of caisson-style boxes, was built on the site. Partial excavation revealed this substantial structure running east to west, formed of oak beams 45cm thick, surviving to three oak baulks high and resting on oak piles. The box quay originally supported timber decking, and the surviving beams were stamped and branded with trade or carpenters’ marks. A 3rd century pile and plank revetment was also recorded on the site. Further remains of these Roman quayside structures and revetments survive beyond those revealed in the pile and excavation trenches (where they were largely not retained in-situ); the extent of the structures was shown to continue between and beyond the limits of the trenches.
The Roman riverside wall
The Roman riverside wall constructed in the later 3rd century survives on this site; partial excavation uncovered a 45m length of the wall which was retained in-situ. It is built of a foundation formed of timber piles supporting a chalk raft upon which is laid the stonework of the wall. This is formed of very large monumental blocks, typically 60cm long by 50cm wide by 35cm thick, with a facing of Hassock greensand and Kentish ragstone blocks. Further remains of the Roman riverside wall survive beyond those revealed in the pile and excavation trenches.
Medieval wharves and associated features
The area covered by the Roman quayside structures also includes several medieval wharves and associated features. Partial excavation recorded a late C12 ‘bulwark style’ timber river wall formed of earth-fast posts with grooves cut along the sides to hold the tapering ends of horizontal planks set on edge. In front of this was a replacement timber-framed river wall constructed in around the early C13. Wool Wharf quay was built on the site in about 1275. A north-south aligned timber revetment relating to this quay was recorded and consisted of front bracing and elaborate scissor-brace tie-back assemblies. Situated to the east of this quay was another late C13 timber-framed revetment; a substantial quayside structure, which was probably associated with Stone Wharf. It was built of front brace timbers supporting oak posts tenoned into baseplates supported by beech, elm and oak piles. Further, more fragmentary, medieval timber revetments were also recorded on the site. The main east-west medieval river wall associated with the custom house was built of chalk and ragstone blocks and a stone foundation supported by timber piles. Further remains of these medieval wharves, river walls and associated features survive on the site beyond those revealed in the pile foundations and excavation trenches.
EXCLUSIONS
The modern building of Sugar Quay is excluded from the scheduling, but the ground beneath is included. All modern structures, pavements, railings, steps, street or road surfaces, pipes, cables, drains and services are also excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath these features is included.
